Photon source term after single collision in targets of silicon, copper and lead for 50-500 keV X-ray beams

Single-scattered X-ray doses at 1 m from silicon, copper and lead targets were calculated using an analytical point-kernel method considering the self-absorption, and the calculated values were compared with detailed results of a Monte Carlo calculation with respect to the emission angle. In the calculations, a slab slanted at 3° to the beam axis was used for silicon in addition to the cylindrical targets for the three materials, and the slab geometry showed the largest doses. The analytical calculations were underestimated compared with the Monte Carlo calculations by less than 24% for silicon and 40% for copper, particularly at large-angle scattering, which was attributable to the buildup effect of the single-scattered X-rays in the targets. By considering the buildup effect, the difference from Monte Carlo results decreased to less than 20%. For lead, the influence of fluorescent X-rays produced by the source beam was dominant in the backward direction, which was also calculated analytically. The simple analytical program can be applied to any target size and shape by considering self-absorption and the buildup effect, both of which inform the simple dose estimation method.