Mechanisms of x-ray emission from peeling adhesive tape

摘要

It has previously been reported that x-rays are emitted when adhesive tape is peeled in a vacuum butnno account of the dependence of the x-ray emission on the pressure of the environment has beenngiven to date. In this paper we present detailed experimental data on the number and angularndistribution of x-ray photons as a function of pressure. We find that x-rays are emitted for pressuresnbetween p0=10−3 and p1=10−2 mBar, with u0004106 counts/ u0002cm2 su0003 recorded by a 256u0002256 pixel2nsilicon array sensor placed 35 mm from the tape. The main role of the tape is found to be thenbuild-up of an acceleration potential sufficient to produce x-rays by bremsstrahlung of free electronsnin a low-pressure gas. The source of the free electrons is the gas. Our model shows that thenproduction rate of uncompensated tape charge and absorption of positive ions from the gas definenp1. The angular distribution of the radiation shows a pressure-independent 20° wide peak in thendirection perpendicular to electron motion. Ordinary bremsstrahlung cannot describe this peak.