Incoherent-scattering cross sections in some lanthanum-group rare-earth elements and Ta, Pb, and Bi derived from the measured total attenuation cross sections in compounds

The whole-atom integrated incoherent-scattering cross sections have been obtained from the total attenuation cross sections in the elements La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Ta, Pb, and Bi at photon energies of 279.2, 514, 661.6, and 1115.5 keV. The total attenuation cross sections for the elements were derived with the aid of the mixture rule from the total attenuation cross sections of the compounds measured by performing transmission experiments in a good-geometry setup. The effect of multiple scattering of photons on the measured values has been corrected by using an extrapolation technique. The present values of the incoherent-scattering cross sections are found to agree fairly well with the recent theoretical values of Hubbell et al.