Microdosimetry of 0. 5 to 2. 0 MeV electron beams

The energy imparted in microscopic volumes by electron beams with initial energies from 0.5 to 2.0 MeV has been measured at various depths in plastic. The problems associated with measuring energy deposition spectra of low LET radiations are serious, but the potential importance of these measurements in radiation biophysics justifies the effort required to obtain them. Recent results obtained by Goodhead et al. indicate an RBE greater than 2 for 0.3 keV x-rays compared to 250 kV x-rays, and our results with Chlamydomonas reinhardi indicate an RBE of 1.6 for a 1.5 MeV electron beam at a depth of 400 gm/cm/sup 2/ in lucite compared to the same beam at the surface. Development of a theory which appears to explain these results in terms of the microscopic distribution of energy deposition has motivated a detailed study of energy deposition spectra for an electron beam attenuated by various thicknesses of lucite. Simulated sites from 0.5 to 1.9 ..mu..m in diameter were studied. The values of anti y determined in these single event measurements compare favorably with those calculated from direct measurements of z reported previously. As expected, the means of the distributions increase significantly with increasing depth in an absorber.