Total Bremsstrahlung Cross-Section for Al, Ti, Sn and Pb at Incident Electron Energy of 10 keV, 50 keV and 100 keV

Abstract

The total bremsstrahlung cross-sections which include the contribution of Polarization bremsstrahlung (PB) into ordinary bremsstrahlung (OB) for Al, Ti, Sn and Pb for an incident electron of energy 10 keV, 50 keV and 100 keV were studied. In these calculations, theories of Elwert corrected (non-relativistic) Bethe-Heitler theory (1939), Avdonina and Pratt (1999) and Amusia (1985) were compared. The theory of Amusia (1985) was modified by introducing the factors of modified Elwert factor and higher order Born correction factor. Bethe-Heitler theory (1939) describes ordinary bremsstrahlung (OB) however Avdonina and Pratt (1999) and Amusia (1985) included the contribution of Polarization bremsstrahlung (PB) into ordinary bremsstrahlung (OB). From the comparison of these theories, it was found that for high Z element the total bremsstrahlung cross-sections calculated by the modified Amusia (1985) and Avdonina and Pratt (1999) theories were higher by 10-30% from the Elwert corrected (non-relativistic) Bethe-Heitler theory at 1 keV and 3 keV photon energies respectively. At higher photon energies the modified Amusia theory is more accurate. However, it was found that for low Z element the Avdonina and Pratt theory is more accurate particularly at lower photon energy. The deviation of bremsstrahlung cross-sections among the different theories indicates the importance of polarization bremsstrahlung in the bremsstrahlung process.