In physics, the attenuation length or absorption length is the distance into a material when the probability has dropped to that a particle has not been absorbed. Alternatively, if there is a beam of particles incident on the material, the attenuation length is the distance where the intensity of the beam has dropped to, or about 63% of the particles have been stopped.
Mathematically, the probability of finding a particle at depth into the material is calculated by the Beer–Lambert law:
P(x)=e-x
In general is material- and energy-dependent.