Shielding study of hard X-rays produced by high-intensity laser interaction with solid targets

Previous experiments have shown that high-intensity laser interaction with a solid target can be regarded as a new ionizing radiation source. The radioprotection issue attracts a growing concern worldwide. In order to effectively control the radiological hazard from the X-ray produced by high-intensity laser interaction with solid targets, transmission curves and tenth-value layer (TVL) values in common shielding materials are studied. In this paper, a shielding calculation model was established using Monte Carlo code FLUKA. A specialized routine was developed to solve the problem of repeated scoring caused by the backscattering of particles. Transimitted doses were then obtained for various shielding thicknesses in a single run. The results show that for electron temperatures of 0.5-10 MeV, the TVL value in concrete increases with the electron temperature and ranges from 24 to 56 cm; In lead, except for the first TVL, the equilibrium TVL value shows less correlation with the electron temperature and ranges from 4.7-5.4 cm. In addition, for the high electron temperature, the first TVL value is significantly affected by the distance between the shielding material and the detector.