Interactions of Photons with

Matter – Pair Production

George Starkschall, Ph.D.

Lecture Objectives
• Identify and describe the process of
pair production
• Recognize the implications of the
various interaction processes in
imaging, radiation shielding, and
radiation treatment

Description of process
• Type 3a process
• Photon interacts with electric field
surrounding nucleus and is
completely absorbed

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 Description of process
• Photon transforms (in the presence
of a nucleus) into an electron and
positron pair
– Nucleus needed to conserve
momentum
• Photon energy goes to creating the
pair, remaining energy shared by the
electron and positron

Description of process

Description of process
• Nucleus takes away some kinetic
energy, but normally ignored
• Requires 2m0c2 to create pair, so
threshold at 1.022 MeV
• Some momentum transferred to
nucleus, so we cannot determine
relative angle between electron and
positron

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 Relationship to Bremsstrahlung

• Bremsstrahlung
– Electron undergoes transition between
two positive energy states
– Photon is emitted
• Pair production
– Electron undergoes transition from
negative energy state (creating
positron) to positive energy state
– Photon is absorbed

Pair cross section

• Requires quantum mechanical
calculations
• Cross section obtained by Bethe &
Heitler

Pair cross section

• Fpair is complicated function of

momentum, energy, and angle of
both positron and electron
• d is incremental solid angle into
which positron is ejected

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 Angular distribution
• Energy near 2m0c2 – angular
distribution much more complicated
• High energy – mainly forward
direction

Energy distribution
• Energy of electron and positron
shared in any proportion; on average
each gets half of available energy
• Slight asymmetry in distribution
– Nucleus attracts electron, but repels
positron
– Small amount more kinetic energy given
to positron

Energy distribution

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 Energy distribution
• For 5 MeV photons,
most probable
energy distribution
is 50-50 split
• For high-energy
photons (> 20 MeV),
most probable
distribution is 25-75
split

Energy distribution
• Energy distribution is symmetric
– Either particle has same relative
probability, so they share energy evenly
• Average energy transferred to either
particle given by

Example – Follow the energy

• Determine the number of positrons
with energy between 6.9 and 7.1 MeV
set in motion when a layer of carbon
of thickness 3 x 1026 atom/m2 is
placed in a 20 MeV beam of 106
photons.

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 Example
• Calculate the number of pairs created
• Number of pairs = photon fluence x
fraction of photons undergoing
interactions per unit absorber
thickness (absorption coefficient) x
absorber thickness

Example
• From J & C, table A-4b,  for 20 MeV
photons in carbon is 0.1321 x 10-28

Example
• Determine the available energy
= 20 MeV – 1.022 MeV = 19 MeV
• Determine fraction of energy given to
the positron
= 7 MeV/19 MeV = 0.368

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 Example
• Determine relative probability per
energy interval of generating a
positron with this energy
• From the graph,
this would
appear to be
approximately
1.09

Example
• Multiply this probability by the
fractional energy interval (0.2 parts in
19)
1.09 x 0.2/19 = 0.0115
• So the number of positrons generated
is given by
3.96 x 103 x 0.0115 = 45 positrons

After pair production

• Positrons and electrons transfer energy to
target atoms – ionization and excitation
• Positron comes to rest
• Annihilates with electron
• Generates two photons
– 0.511 MeV energies
– Ejected 180° to each other
• Significant applications in imaging – PET
imaging

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 Triplet production
• Pair production in vicinity of electron
(rather than nucleus)
• Generates positron + electron pair
and ejected electron
• Threshold of 2.04 MeV
– 1.022 MeV to create the pair
– 1.022 to conserve momentum and
energy

Triplet production
• Attenuation coefficient
approximately 1/6 that as for pair
production
• Usually included in calculated
attenuation coefficients for pair
production

Energy dependence

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 Energy dependence

• Threshold at 2m0c2
• Absorption
coefficient
increases
dramatically just
above threshold
• Levels off at
higher energies

Z dependence
• Pair production occurs in force field
of nucleus
• Larger nuclear mass  higher
probability of interaction
• Nuclear mass  2Z, so mass
attenuation coefficient proportional
to Z

Summary
• Photon interacts in vicinity of
nucleus, creating electron-positron
pair
• Threshold energy is 1.022 MeV
• Energy shared by electron and
positron
– On average, each gets half the energy

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 Summary
• Triplet production also occurs
– Usually included with pair production
• Mass attenuation coefficient proportional
to Z
• Attenuation coefficient increases rapidly
with energy immediately above threshold,
levels off at higher energies
• 2 annihilation photons produced, each
with energy 0.511 MeV

Tie everything together

• Total attenuation coefficient
tot = pe + coh + inc + pp
• Similar expressions for mass,
electronic, atomic coefficients
• Similar expressions for energy
transfer and energy absorption
coefficients

Electronic attenuation coefficients

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 Rayleigh (coherent) scatter
• Never has the largest attenuation
coefficient
• Greater than Compton scatter at low
energies
• Greater than photoelectric effect near
100 keV
• No energy loss in medium

Photoelectric absorption
• Dominant interaction at low energies
and for high Z
• Falls off very rapidly with increasing
energy
– Inversely proportional to E3
• Increases dramatically with
increasing Z
– Proportional to Z3

Photoelectric absorption
• Absorption increases very sharply
when photon has exactly the binding
energy of an orbital electron
• Very efficient as energy transfer
process

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 Compton scatter
• Dominant interaction in soft tissue in the
photon energy range for radiation therapy
• Very little change in probability with
energy (less than 2 orders of magnitude
from 1 keV to 100 MeV)
• Maximum attenuation near 100 keV

Compton scatter
• Not a good energy transfer
mechanism at low energies
(approaches classical limit – no
energy transfer)
• Better energy transfer mechanism at
higher energies
• Attenuation coefficient virtually
independent of Z or energy

Pair production
• Threshold at 1.022 MeV
• Attenuation increases rapidly at energies
above threshold
• Attenuation levels off at higher energies
• Energy shared by electron and positron
pair
– Either can have any energy from 0 to available
energy
– On average, electron and positron have same
energy

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 Pair production
• Two annihilation photons created,
each with 0.511 MeV, ejected at 180°
• Efficient energy transfer process

Energy transfer and energy absorption

E % interactions by each process % energy transferred %

(keV) Coh Compt Photo Pair Compt Photo Pair energy
lost to
Brems
10 4.5 5.1 92.4 - 0.1 99.9 - -
30 13.0 50.7 36.3 - 6.8 93.2 - -
50 8.6 80.4 11.0 - 37.2 62.8 - -
100 3.1 95.5 1.5 - 89.6 10.4 - -
200 1.0 98.8 0.2 - 99.0 1.0 - -
500 0.3 99.7 - - 99.9 0.1 - 0.1
(MeV)
1.5 - 99.8 - 0.2 99.9 - 0.1 0.4
5 - 91.6 - 8.4 89.6 - 10.4 1.4
15 - 65.6 - 34.4 59.3 - 40.7 4.6
20 - 56.0 - 44.0 49.3 - 50.7 6.5
100 - 16.0 - 84.0 13.3 - 86.7 30.1

Implications in imaging
• In the diagnostic x-ray region, much of the
beam is in the photoelectric absorption
range, so contrast (difference in
absorption) is caused by differences in Z
as well as density giving rise to high-
contrast images
• Contrast media, e.g., barium, have K-
edges near the energies of the diagnostic
x-rays giving rise to enhancement of
absorption

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 Implications in imaging
• In the therapy x-ray region, much of
the beam is in the Compton scatter
range, so contrast is caused only by
differences in density giving rise to
lower contrast images

Implications in imaging
• The radiation emitted from
photoelectric absorption consists of
an electron, which has a relatively
short range. Consequently the only
radiation reaching a detector is
radiation that has not been involved
in an interaction

Implications in imaging
• The radiation emitted from Compton
scatter includes a photon, which can
reach the detector. Because this
radiation does not contain
information as to the point of
interaction, it adds noise to the
image produced at the image plane.

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 Implications in shielding
• In the diagnostic range (photoelectric), the
attenuation is highly dependent on Z, so
we use lead, which has the highest Z of
stable isotopes.
• In the therapy range (Compton), all
materials have the same attenuation per
unit mass, so we use materials with the
best construction capabilities, e.g.
concrete.

Implications in therapy
• When treating with radiation in the orthovoltage
energy range, many interactions are
photoelectric, absorption of energy is highly
dependent on Z, so, for a given amount of
radiation bone absorbs significantly more energy
than soft tissue.
• When treating with radiation in the megavoltage
energy range, almost all the interactions are
Compton, so the differences in energy absorption
between various forms of tissue are negligible.

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