Experimental radiation dose-effect studies at a material's interface requir
e high-resolution dose measurements resulting from the exposure of mounted
samples on a supporting substrate. Reflections of photons and electrons fro
m the substrate increase the effective dose to the sample relative to dose
from the direct beam incident on the unbacked sample. This difficult-to-mea
sure enhancement of effective dose can be calculated easily with Monte Carl
o transport codes. We have used the Monte Carlo code, CYLTRAN, to carry out
radiation transport and dose calculations in very thin water layers backed
by different substrate materials. We present cases with an incident photon
beam (15 - 100 keV) on a water medium with five different substrates - myl
ar, aluminum, copper, silver, and gold. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.