Electron Energy Deposition in Multilayer Geometries

A high precision calorimetric method has been employed to measure electron energy deposition profiles in multilayer configurations for normally incident source electrons at an energy of 1.0 MeV. The results are compared with the predictions of a coupled electron/ photon Monte Carlo transport model. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment is obtained for an Al/Au/Al configuration, while significant discrepancies are observed in the case of C/Au/C and Be/Au/Be configurations. Several potential problems are discussed but no satisfactory explanation for the discrepancies has been found.