Photon interaction parameters of some spin ice compound materials

Spin ice compounds (SICs) are the frustrated magnetic materials which are used in nuclear reactor control system and semiconductor electronic circuits. Photon interaction parameters such as the effective atomic number, Z, and the effective electron density, N, for SICs such as DyTiO, DySnO, HoTiO and HoSnO have been computed at photon energies from 10 keV to 100 GeV. The Z of the spin ice compounds is approximately constant in energy range 0.3–4 MeV where Compton scattering is the main photon interaction process. The Z increases sharply below 0.3 MeV due to photoelectric absorption process and above 3 MeV due to pair–production process. The well type structures of Z and N for HSO and DSO have been observed in the photon energy range 30–60 keV due to involvement of k–shell electron in the interaction. DySnO and HoSnO are suitable materials for gamma shielding.

Keywords: spin ice compounds, frustrated magnets, magnetic monopoles, spin–spin, magnetic Coulomb force, photo–absorption, control rods, effective atomic number, electron density, photon interaction, nuclear reactor control, nuclear energy, nuclear power, semiconductor electronic circuits, gamma shielding