a b s t r a c t
In this work, the gamma-rays interaction properties of zircons from Cambodia and South Africa have
been studied. The densities of Cambodian and South African’s zircons are 4.671670.0040 g/cm3 and
4.550570.0018 g/cm3, respectively. The mass attenuation coefficient and the effective atomic number of
gemstones were measured with the gamma-ray in energies range 223–662 keV using the Compton
scattering technique. The mass attenuation coefficients of both zircons decreased with the increasing of
gamma-rays energies. The different mass attenuation coefficients between the two zircons observed at
gamma-ray energies below 400 keV are attributed to the differences in the photoelectric interaction. The
effective atomic number of zircons was decreased with the increasing of gamma-ray energies and
showed totally different values between the Cambodia and South Africa sources. The origins of the two
zircons could be successfully identified by the method based on gamma-rays interaction with matter
with advantage of being a non-destructive testing.