# Gamma Ray Shielding Properties of Yb\({}^{3+}\)-Doped Calcium Borotellurite Glasses
## 3 Results and Discussion  
Figure 1 exhibits the \(\mu/\varrho\) for the five chosen TeBYbX samples. The following energy values were selected in the \(\mu/\varrho\) calculations: 0.284, 0.347, 0.356, 0.511, 0.637, 0.662, 0.723, 0.826, 1.173, 1.275, 1.333 and 2.506 MeV. These energies presented a variety of low, moderate and high energy ranges. The effect of the energy on the \(\mu/\varrho\) can first be investigated. Figure 1 shows that for all chosen TeBYbX samples, as energy increases, the \(\mu/\varrho\) reduces. However, the previous trend in the \(\mu/\varrho\) happens in two phases. In the first phase, the \(\mu/\varrho\) reduces sharply as energy increases between 0.284 to 0.637 MeV. In this case, the interactions of the photons with the TeBYbX atoms are mainly due to the photoelectric effect [33]. The \(\mu/\varrho\) for TeBYb1 reduces from 0.1255 to 0.0776 cm\({}^{2}\)/g when the energy changes from 0.248 to 0.637 MeV. In the second phase (for E \(>\) 0.637 MeV), we can see from Figure 1 that the rate at which the \(\mu/\varrho\) changes becomes less clear. This is because for higher energies, the Compton scattering starts to become increasingly more predominant. Additionally, we can observe from Figure 1 that the \(\mu/\varrho\) at high energies (for the last two energies) become almost constant. Next, the effect of the content of TeO\({}_{2}\) on the \(\mu/\varrho\) can be examined. At all the investigated energies, as the content of TeO\({}_{2}\) changes from 10 to 54 mol\(\%\), the \(\mu/\varrho\) increases with it. For example, at 0.347 MeV, the \(\mu/\varrho\) values are 0.109, 0.112, 0.114, 0.117 and 0.123 cm\({}^{2}\)/g for TeBYb1, TeBYb2, TeBYb3, TeBYb4 and TeBYb5 respectively. This is related to incorporating Te2, which has a higher mass attenuation coefficient than the B and Ca atoms. Accordingly, as the TeO\({}_{2}\) in the samples increases and the B\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) and CaO decrease, the shielding ability of the TeBYbX samples is enhanced. Therefore, we can conclude that TeBYb5 with the highest amount of TeO2 is the more effective attenuator out of the chosen samples for the energy range of 0.284 and 2.506 MeV. The \(\mu/\varrho\) for the TeBYbX samples is compared with some traditional glasses used in practical shielding areas (see Figure 2). The compositions of these traditional glasses are given the references [34; 35]. We selected only one energy for the comparison, namely 0.284 MeV, and we found the same trend at the other energies. It is to be noted that all the TeBYbX glasses have higher \(\mu/\varrho\) than that of Type A and B, glasses as well as lower \(\mu/\varrho\) than that of Osmania and rider glasses. Additionally, the TeBYb1 sample possesses almost the same \(\mu/\varrho\) as RS-253-G18. However, all the TeBYbX glasses have lower \(\mu/\varrho\) than the \(\mu/\varrho\) for RS-360 glass. It is important to mention that RS-360 contains a high content of PbO (45 wt\(\%\)) and this explains the high \(\mu/\varrho\) for this glass. Figure 1: The mass attenuation coefficient (cm\({}^{2}\)/g) for the TeBYbX glasses. Figure 2: Comparison between the mass attenuation coefficient (cm\({}^{2}\)/g) for the TeBYbX glasses with some traditional glasses at 0.284 MeV. The interaction of gamma photons with constituent atoms of the selected TeBYbX glasses determines the linear attenuation coefficient (\(\mu\)), and this quantity is dependent on the sample's density as well as the radiation's energy. The \(\mu\) is an important factor of the attenuators, and it helps to estimate the applications in the radiation shielding field. Figure 3 exhibits the \(\mu\) for the TeBYbX specimens. As can be seen, the \(\mu\) is proportionally increased with increasing the TeO\({}_{2}\) content from 10 to 54 mol%. This is due to the fact that the \(\mu\) is a parameter that is related directly to the density of the attenuator, and in our samples, the density increases from 3.08 to 4.46 g/cm\({}^{3}\) when the TeO\({}_{2}\) changes from 10 to 54 mol%.