WHAT IS BREMSSTRAHLUNG?

Bremsstrahlung defined
Bremsstrahlung is a German term that means "braking rays." It is an important
phenomenon in the generation of X-rays. In the Bremsstrahlung process, a high
speed electron traveling in a material is slowed or completely stopped by the
forces of any atom it encounters. s a high speed electron approaches an atom,
it will interact with the negative force from the electrons of the atom, and it
may be slowed or completely stopped. If the electron is slowed down, it will e!it
the material with less energy. "he law of conservation of energy tells us that
this energy cannot be lost and must be absorbed by the atom or converted to
another form of energy. "he energy used to slow the electron is e!cessive to
the atom and the energy will be radiated as !-radiation of e#ual energy.
If the electron is completely stopped by the strong positive force of the
nucleus, the radiated !-ray energy will have an energy e#ual to the total kinetic
energy of the electron. "his type of action occurs with very large and heavy
nuclei materials. "he new !-rays and liberated electrons will interact with
matter in a similar fashion to produce more radiation at lower energy levels until
finally all that is left is a mass of long wavelength electromagnetic wave forms
that fall outside the !-ray spectrum.
1. $adiation is an electromagnetic wave that has no charge and no
mass.
2. X-rays and gamma-rays can be characteri%ed by fre#uency,
wavelength, and energy.
THE BETATRON
The Betatrn
nother interesting accelerator, known as the Betatron, was developed in the
early &'()*s by a man name +onald ,erst at the -niversity of Illinois. ,erst*s
Betatron is used to accelerate electrons .beta particles/ to produce high energy
!-radiation. "he first Betatron developed produced a radiation energy of a little
more than 0 1e2. 3ontinued development allowed the Betatron to generate
energies as high as 4)) 1e2.
"he Betatron operates on the principle of the transformer. "he primary side
consists of a large electromagnet, and the secondary side is the electron stream
that is being accelerated. "he electrons are accelerated in a circular tube known
as a doughnut that has been evacuated. 5hen the electrons have achieved
ma!imum energy, they are directed to a target, the resulting interaction is the
production of high energy X-rays.
THE !"!LOTRON
gain in the early &'4)*s, 6.7. 8awrence who was also an merican physicist
developed the 3yclotron. "his device is capable of accelerating charged particles
.protons/ in a circular path to energies that e!ceed &) 1e2. "he 3yclotron is
comprised of a large cylindrical bo! sandwiched between the poles of an
electromagnet. "he bo! is evacuated until a high vacuum e!ists. 3harged
particles are fed into the cylindrical bo!. "wo 9+* shaped electrodes placed back
to back with a gap between them are connected to a high voltage source inside
of the bo!. By rapidly reversing the electric charge on the electrodes, and due
to the presence of the magnetic field of the electromagnets, the charged
particles move in a circular fashion. 6ach time the charged particles cross the
gap of the electrodes, the particles gain energy and begin moving towards the
outside of the cylindrical bo!. 7nce the charged particles reach the outer edge
of the bo!, they are deflected towards the target, resulting in high energy X-
radiation.
THE LINEAR A!!ELERATOR
particle accelerator, different from those previously mentioned, is the 8inear
accelerator, designed to move charged particles at high velocities along a
straight path to a target. 8inear accelerators are comprised of a series of drift
tubes mounted inside of an evacuated chamber. "he charged particles are fed
into one end of the chamber, and accelerated by a alternating high fre#uency
voltage that is applied to the drift tubes. +ue to high fre#uency, the drift tubes
alternate charges, resulting in repulsion of the particles as they leave a tube,
and attraction by the ne!t tube. It is this alternating high fre#uency that
accelerates the particles as they cross the gaps between tubes.
8inac .linear accelerator/ at 36$:
;resent day 8inear accelerators may be several miles long, capable of producing
e!tremely high energy X-rays.
"he previously mentioned particle accelerators are only a small sample of the
high energy radiation capabilities utili%ed today. 1any of these systems were
developed to benefit the medical field, research in the science field, and the
industrial e!amination of very thick or heavy wall materials. If you are
interested in learning more about high energy radiation sources, there are
numerous sources available in both written form and on the Internet.