Radiosensitization with iron nanoparticles under 10–800 Ry photon irradiation: Monte Carlo simulation of particle-to-medium energy transfer

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Abstract
The processes in 2–128 nm iron nanoparticles (NP) under 10–800 Ry photon irradiation are studied by detailed Monte Carlo simulations, accounting for the cascade decays of inner-shell vacancies. The cascade decay of vacancies is a crucial factor in the theoretical description of the effect of ionizing radiation on matter. The NPs re-emit most of the energy of an absorbed photon into the surrounding medium with secondary electrons and photons emitted by NP. At incident photon energies under the Fe1s-ionization threshold, most of the energy is carried away by electrons; when photon energy is above the Fe1s-threshold, electrons and photons transfer the energy to the surrounding medium. In the case of large nanoparticles, many low-energy electrons are emitted by NP, over a hundred per one initial photon. Although the energy carried away by them is small, they contribute to forming a high positive charge on the NP, which results in great electric fields near the NP surface. The significance of the NP electric field effect on the DNA repair cycle is discussed.

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