Measurement of the differential cross section for Compton scattering by bound electrons

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jun 22 04:00:00 EDT 1974

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4260860· OSTI ID:4260860

Spitale, Guy C. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

Singly differential cross sections for incoherent scattering by K-shell electrons have been measured for incident photons having energies of 662 keV, 320 keV and 145 keV. The spectral distributions of scattered photons have also been examined. Target materials were iron, tin, holmium, and gold at 320 keV; tin and gold at 662 keV; and iron and tin at 145 keV. It was not, however, possible to draw specific conclusions from the 145-keV data. A typical spectrum at 320 keV consisted of a scattered peak which was much narrower than would be expected from the bound state electron motion. Rather than monotonically increasing with atomic number as expected, the peak width reached a maximum near Z = 50 and then decreased with increasing atomic number. The peak also reached a maximum width for a scattering angle between 45° and 60°. The same angular behavior was observed at 662 keV and the peaks in the gold spectra were narrower than corresponding peaks in the tin spectra. The peak is superimposed on a continuum which appears to diverge at the low end of the scattered photon spectrum for the following cases: gold, holmium, and tin targeL, for 320-keV incident photons; and gold and possibly tin targets for 662-keV photons incident. This infrared divergence is expected on general grounds and has been predicted. The observed "infrared" continuum is very nearly isotropic. As far as is known, no other experimental work has shown these anomalous effects.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• NSA Number: NSA-30-025205
• OSTI ID: 4260860
• Report Number(s): UCRL--51596
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*GOLD-- PHOTON COLLISIONS
*HOLMIUM-- PHOTON COLLISIONS
*IRON-- PHOTON COLLISIONS
*PHOTON COLLISIONS-- COMPTON EFFECT
*TIN-- PHOTON COLLISIONS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
DIFFERENTIAL CROSS SECTIONS
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY SPECTRA
INCOHERENT SCATTERING
INFRARED DIVERGENCES
ISOTROPY
KEV RANGE 100-1000
N60400* --Physics (Atomic & Molecular)--Collision Phenomena