Photoneutron production of a Siemens Primus linear accelerator studied by Monte Carlo methods and a paired magnesium and boron coated magnesium ionization chamber system.

When radiotherapy with photon energies greater than 10 MV is performed neutrons contaminate the photon beam. In this paper the neutron contamination of the 15 MV photon mode of the Siemens Primus accelerator was studied. The Monte Carlo code MCNPX was used for the description of the treatment head and treatment room. The Monte Carlo results were verified by studying the photon depth dose curve and beam profiles in a water phantom. After these verifications the locations of neutron production were studied and the neutron source spectrum and strength were calculated. The neutron response of the paired Mg/Ar and MgB/Ar ionization chamber system was calculated and experimentally verified for two experimental set-ups. The paired chamber system allowed us to measure neutrons inside the field borders and allowed rapid and point wise measurement in contrast to other methods of neutron detection.