Coherent Bremsstrahlung and Channeling Radiation from Electrons of One to Three MeV in Silicon and Gold

摘要

The observation of sharp peaks in the x-ray spectrum from 1 to 3 MeV electrons striking thin single crystals of silicon and gold is reported. These peaks were observed in the range 1 to 25 keV. The peaks are of two different origins, both direct results of the periodic nature of the target crystals. The first kind of radiation is caused by the interference of incoming and scattered electron wave functions. Because of the periodicity of the target material there is a coherence effect for certain bremsstrahlung wave vectors. This coherent bremsstrahlung, though well known at very high electron energies, has never been adequately studied at electron energies below several hundred MeV. Detailed agreement between theoretical prediction and observation in silicon is shown. The second kind of radiation is caused by electrons channeled along major crystal axes. The electrons enter certain quantized orbits as they channel and may emit photons as a consequence of transitions between the various orbits. Observations of channeling radiation for various crystal axes in silicon are presented. Both phenomena were observed in gold, the first such observation for any metallic target. (ERA citation 06:032616)