Average depths of electron penetration (II): Angular dependence and use toevaluate secondary-electron yield by photons

In our previous paper [V. Lazurik, V. Moskvin and T. Tabata, IEEE Trans. Nu cl. Sci. 45, pp. 626-631 (1998)] the average depth of electron penetration, R-av, has been introduced as the average of the maximum depths on the traj ectories of electrons passing through a target. In the present work the dep endence of R-av on the angle of incidence of an electron beam has been stud ied. A semi-empirical equation is derived to calculate R-av as a function o f angle of incidence. We extend the study of R-av from using it to characte rize the average behavior of electron beams in a target to describing the g eneration of secondary electrons by photon beams. It is shown that R-av can be used in a wide variety of applications in which the characteristic size of the spatial region of electron production is important.