Modified general cavity theory applied to the calculation of gamma dose in 60Co thermoluminescence dosimetry

Burlin's general cavity theory for intermediate sized cavities incorporated two weighting factors: d, the average reduction in the electron fluence from the medium inside the cavity, and 1 - d, the average fractional build-up to equilibrium of the cavity-generated electron spectrum--both calculated for an average path length g of electrons crossing the cavity. A new weighting factor d' has been introduced expressing the fact that average path length for medium- and cavity-generated electrons are not equal and this leads to a modified general cavity expression. The new expression is applied to 60Co thermoluminescence dosimetry experimental results of other workers. For LiF TLD in all the media agreement with experiment is improved. There is a significant dependence of the theoretical results on the effective mass attenuation coefficient, indicating the need for further studies.