Kerma factors for calculating the absorbed dose of 15–150 MeV neutrons

A hybrid geometrically dependent model has been used to calculate the yield of charged particles in inelastic neutron—nuclear reactions involving elements which form part of the human tissue and are used in particle detectors, for primary nucleon energies up to 150 MeV. The hybrid model is found to give considerably better agreement with experimental data than the cascade—evaporative and cascade—exciton models in the entire energy range considered. The error in calculating the kerma factors using the hybrid model is estimated as ∼6–10%, which is considerably more accurate that the previously published data. Calculated detailed energy dependences are given of the neutron kerma factors for C, O, N, H, Si, and also for soft biological tissue and certain particle detectors.