The angular and energy distribution of the primary electron beam.

The angular distribution for electron beams produced by the Siemens KD-2 linear accelerator has been found by simulating electron transport through the scattering foils and air using two methods: Fermi-Eyges multiple Coulomb scattering calculations, and EGS4 Monte Carlo simulations. Fermi-Eyges theory gives solutions where both the angular and spatial fluence distributions are Gaussian, with the angular standard deviation being invariant with off-axis distance. The EGS4 results show slightly non-Gaussian angular and lateral distributions as a result of the use of Moliére theory rather than Fermi-Eyges multiple scattering theory, as well as the simulation of discrete bremsstrahlung and Møller interactions. However, the results from both methods are very similar. The angular standard deviations obtained by these methods agree very closely with those found experimentally. The similar shape of the Monte Carlo and Fermi-Eyges results indicate that a Gaussian approximation to the incident angular distribution will be adequate for use in treatment planning algorithms. Furthermore, the angular standard deviation may be determined using Fermi-Eyges theory as an alternative to experimental methods. Both Monte Carlo simulations, and Fermi-Eyges theory predict that the mean electron angle is proportional to off axis distance for all useful field sizes. For a 15 MeV electron beam, an effective source position of 99 cm and 98 cm from the nominal 100 SSD plane was obtained from Fermi-Eyges and Monte Carlo results respectively for a 15 MeV beam. The effective source position found experimentally for this energy was 98 cm.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)