Energy Spectrum Calculator

This project demonstrates how to generate and analyze X-ray spectra using the SpekPy library.

What the Code Does

Spectrum Generation

• Creates an X-ray spectrum with:
  • 70 kVp (kilovolt peak) - the maximum tube voltage
  • 12° anode angle - the angle of the tungsten target

Filtration

• Applies 2.8 mm of Aluminum (Al) filtration
• Applies 3.0 mm of Beryllium (Be) filtration

These filters modify the spectrum by removing lower energy photons (beam hardening).

Analysis

• Calculates and prints the first half-value layer (HVL1) - the thickness of material needed to reduce the beam intensity by 50%
• Calculates and prints the second half-value layer (HVL2) - the additional thickness needed to reduce the beam by another 50%

Visualization

• Retrieves the energy spectrum data (energy values and fluence)
• Plots the spectrum showing:
  • X-axis: Photon energy in keV
  • Y-axis: Fluence per mAs per unit energy (photons/cm²/mAs/keV)
  • Title: "An example x-ray spectrum"

Use Cases

This is typical code for X-ray physics simulations, commonly used in:

• Medical physics
• Radiology
• Radiation protection

The code helps understand beam characteristics and quality for various applications.