Here are some examples of Bremsstrahlung. The first graph shows how the bremsstrahlung energy that is radiated depends on the energy of the x-ray photon being radiated. This graph is for 50 keV electrons hitting different atoms. The energy radiated is almost a constant, that is it does not depend on the energy of the photon very much, until the "endpoint" or the maximum energy that could be radiated is reached. You can't get any photon with more energy than the electron has to begin with.
Hey, what about those red peaks? Isn't there a lot more energy radiated at those photon energies? Yes, very good, you noticed...those peaks occur at the energy that is characteristic of the x-ray energy of silver (Ag). Those peaks are not due to bremsstrahlung, but to ionization of the inner-most electron shell (called the "K" shell) in the silver atom.
There is more to it, of course, even in the "flat" regions that are due to bremsstrahlung. The vertical axis is a logarithmic scale, so there is really more change with photon energy then it looks like. The units of the vertical axis may look strange, but they represent the energy radiated into a solid angle per unit photon energy per target atom per square cm. It looks like it could be time to enroll in a physics course.
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Last modified
01/17/01
Maintained by C. A. Quarles