GAMMA DECAY

Prof. Dr. Turan OLĞAR

Ankara University, Faculty of Engineering

Department of Physics Engineering
 GAMMA DECAY

Most  and β decays, and in fact most nuclear reactions as well,

usually leave the final nucleus in an excited state. These excited
states decay rapidly to the ground state through the emission of one
or more  rays, which are photons of electromagnetic radiation like
X rays or visible light.
The nucleus makes the transition from the higher energy state, Ei, to
the lower energy state, Ef, and gives out the excess energy

E  Ei  E f
by means of one of the following three processes.
• Gamma-ray emission
• Internal conversion
• Internal pair-production
 GAMMA DECAY

Gamma rays have energies typically in the range of 0.1 to 10 MeV,

characteristic of the energy difference between nuclear states, and
thus corresponding wavelengths between 104 and 100 fm.
These wavelengths are far shorter than those of the other types of
electromagnetic radiations that we normally encounter; visible light,
for example, has wavelengths 106 times longer than  rays.

As the nucleus has discrete energy levels, the gamma spectra of

nuclei consists of sharp lines. The energy of a gamma ray emitted is
given by the relation

h  E  Ei  E f (1)
 GAMMA DECAY

Unlike alpha and beta decay, the gamma decay does not cause a
change in the atomic number or mass number of the nucleus. As
compared to the half-lives of alpha and beta emitters, the gamma
emitters have very short half-lives.

Gamma rays are electro-magnetic waves of very high penetrating

power. They do not cause much ionization and are not deflected by
the electric or magnetic fields. See Fig. 9.1. in Fundamentals of
Nuclear Physics by Atam P. Arya in Fig. 9.1. for emission of gamma
rays following alpha and beta decay.
 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT OF PHOTONS

The intensity of a beam of x-rays or -rays passing through a

material follows the exponential law of absorption, because the
change in intensity is directly proportional to the incident intensity
and the thickness of the material.

Let us consider a beam of photons with intensity I falling

perpendicular to a material of thickness x. Then the change in
intensity, I, is given by
I    I x (2)

where μ is the proportionality constant and is known as the

absorption coefficient. For a homogeneous radiation, μ is constant
and from Eq. 2 we get
I  I 0e  x (3)
 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT OF PHOTONS

Where I is the intensity of the beam after the beam of initial

intensity, I0 , has crossed a thickness x of the material.

Gamma rays do not have a definite range as do alpha and beta

particles but are characterized by the attenuation absorption-
coefficient, μ. Also, we may write

I  h (4)
where h is the energy of each photon, and  is the number of
photons crossing a unit area in a unit time and is called the flux.
Combining Eq. 3 and 4, we get

  0 e   x (5)

Where 0 is the initial flux.

 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT OF PHOTONS

Note that I denotes the energy flux (or intensity), and  is the
number flux. μ is sometimes called the linear absorption coefficient.
Besides the linear absorption coefficient, μ , the other coefficient
that are commonly used are mass absorption coefficient, μm, atomic
absorption coefficient, aμ and electronic absorption coefficient eμ .
These four coefficients are related to each other in the following
way:
a   Ze 

NA  N AZ
 a  e 
A A
 N  N Z
m   A a  A e 
 A A
where Z is the atomic number, A is the atomic weight, ρ is the
density in g/cm3, and NA is Avogadro’s number. Because μx is a
dimensionless quantity, if x is expressed in cm, μ will be in cm-1.
 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT OF PHOTONS

The half-thickness, x1/2 , is the characteristic of the absorber as the

half-life is of the decaying nucleus. x1/2 is defined as the thickness
that reduces the incident beam intensity to one-half of its initial
intensity,

I / I 0  1/ 2  e   x1/2 or x1/2  0.693 /  (6)

If the incident beam consists of photons of different energies, Eq. 5

is replaced by the following equation.
  01e   x  02 e   x  03e   x  ......
1 2 3
(7)

Where 01 , 02 , 03 , …and μ1 , μ2 , μ3 , … are the initial fluxes

and absorption coefficients, respectively, of photons with energies
hν1, hν2, hν3,……
 INTERACTION OF GAMMA RADIATION
WITH MATTER
The gamma rays emitted in nuclear decay usually have energies
ranging from a fraction of a MeV to a few MeV. In this range, the
three main processes by which photons lose their energies by
interaction with matter are:

• Photoelectric Effect (P. E.)

• Compton Effect (C. E.) or Compton Scattering
• Pair Production (P. P.)

These three processes are dominant in different ranges of the photon

energy: The photoelectric effect from ~ 0.01 MeV to ~ 0.5 MeV,
the Compton scattering from ~ 0.1 MeV to ~ 10 MeV, and pair
production starts at 1.02 MeV and increases with increasing gamma
energy.
 INTERACTION OF GAMMA RADIATION
WITH MATTER
All three processes are independent each other and by analogy with
Eq. 2, we may write
 I  P.E .    I x (8a )
 I C .E .    I x (8b)
 I  P.P.    I x (8c)

where μτ, μσ , and μκ are the absorption coefficients for the

photoelectric effect, the Compton effect and pair production,
respectively. Adding all three together, we may write
 I    I  P.E .   I C .E .   I P.P.  (      ) I x (9)
and comparing with Eq. 2, we get
       (10)
 PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
The effect is more prominent at low energies of the incident photon.
The incident photon is absorbed by one of the electrons of the atom.
In the process the photon disappears and the electron is ejected with
a kinetic energy Ke, given by

K e  h  I B (11)

where hν is the energy of the incident photon, and IB is the binding

energy of the orbital electron. In general, the cross section (aτ ) of
the photoelectric effect depends on Z and hν in the following fashion

a   Z 5

 1/  h 
7/2
(12)
 COMPTON EFFECT
This is a process by which the incident photon interacts with a free
electron and is scattered with a lower energy, the rest of the energy
being taken by the recoiling electron. Because the electrons in an
atom are loosely bound and the energies of the incident photons are
comparatively high, we may include the scattering of photons by the
electrons of the atom as Compton scattering.

An incident photon of energy hν strikes a free electron with a rest

mass m0. The interaction results in a scattered photon of energy hν’
(< hν) at an angle θ and a recoiling electron with kinetic energy Ke at
an angle .
 COMPTON EFFECT
We can establish the following relations by using conservation of
momentum and energy,
 h 

     1  cos   (13)
 m0 c 
h
h   (14)
1   (1  cos  )

 1 
K e  h  h   h 1   (15)
 1   1  cos   

where =hν/m0c2
 PAIR PRODUCTION
The third most important process by which photons lose their energy
is electron-positron pair formation. The threshold energy for this
process is 2m0c2.

It is found that if a photon of energy greater than 1.02 MeV strikes a

foil of high Z, the photon disappears and in its place an electron-
positron pair is formed. If a pair is produced in a cloud chamber and
a magnetic field is applied, the electrons and the positrons are
deflected in the opposite direction with equal curvature.

The conservation of momentum requires the presence of a heavy

body. Actually the pair formation takes place in the field of the
nucleus and the conservation of energy gives
h  2m0 c 2  E  E  Enuc (16)
 PAIR PRODUCTION
Where hν is the energy of the incident photon, 2m0c2 is the energy
equivalent to the rest mass of the electron and positron; E+, E- , and
Enuc are the kinetic energies of the positron, electron, and the
recoiling nucleus, respectively. Because the mass of the nucleus is
very large, it takes away a very small amount of kinetic energy, and
so Enuc may be neglected.

h  2m0 c 2  E  E (17)

The threshold for pair formation is 2m0c2 or 1.02 MeV.

The process by which positrons are removed from circulation is

called pair annihilation. When a positron is created, it has some
kinetic energy that it loses by collisions with the atoms in its
surroundings.
 PAIR PRODUCTION
After it has slowed down considerably, it may form a kind of atom
with one of the electrons of the medium. The so-called positronium
atom is like a hydrogen atom, except a positron has replaced the
proton. If the positronium atom formed is such that the spins of the
electron and the positron are antiparallel, the atom disappears in a
very short time (~10-10 sec), and it results in the creation of two
photons. From conservation of energy and momentum,
2m0 c 2  h 1  h 2 (18)
h 1 h 2
 (19)
c c
imply
h 1  h 2  2m0 c 2  0.511 MeV (20)
Thus wherever there are positrons, the 0.511 MeV photons will be
created in pairs and emitted in the opposite directions.
 SUMMARY
The values of the atomic absorption cross-section aτ, aσ, and aκ
depend on the atomic number Z and the photon energy hν,
approximately in the following way:
  /  h  a   Z /  h     h 
5 7/2 a 2 b
a Z , , a Z

Where a and b are positive numbers and have different values in

different regions of photon energy. The total absorption coefficient
per atom, aμ , is given by
a   a  a   a 

The linear absorption coefficient is given by

    N A / A   a  a   a  
and the mass absorption coefficient is given by
 /    N A / A   a  a   a  
 MEASUREMENT OF GAMMA-RAY
ENERGIES
• Absorption method

This method is based on the measurement of the absorption

coefficient of an absorber by plotting intensity (count rate) versus
thickness of the absorber. The measured absorption coefficient is
compared with the theoretical values from which the energy of the -
ray may be interpreted.
 MEASUREMENT OF GAMMA-RAY
ENERGIES
• Crystal-Diffraction Spectrometer

This method gives a direct measurement of the wave length.

Because gamma rays are electromagnetic waves, it should be
possible to diffract them.

Knowing the diffraction angle, θ , the wave length, λ , of the gamma

ray may be calculated from Bragg’s condition,

2d sin   n (21)

where d is the grating spacing, and n is the order of diffraction. Thus

from λ , one can calculate the photon energy.
 MEASUREMENT OF GAMMA-RAY
ENERGIES
• Magnetic Spectrometer

When one or several groups of gamma rays of moderate energies

(from ~ 1 MeV to ~ 3 MeV ) are present, their accurate energy
determination is made by using a magnetic spectrometer. Gamma
rays are made to produce photoelectrons or Compton-recoil
electrons, and the energies of these electrons are measured by means
of a spectrometer. Knowing the maximum energy of the Compton
electrons, the gamma-ray energies may be calculated by using Eq.
15. The maximum kinetic energy, Km, is obtained from Eq. 15 by
substituting θ=1800 (or =0) in head on collision,
K m  h / 1  m0 c 2 / 2h  (22)
or
h  K m   K m  2 K m m0c 
1 2 2 1/2 
(23)
2  
 MEASUREMENT OF GAMMA-RAY
ENERGIES
• Magnetic Spectrometer

The photoelectrons show up as spectral lines superimposed on the

continuous Compton spectrum. Lines corresponding to the K-Shell
and L-Shell electrons show up in most cases. Energies of these
electrons can be calculated from the Br values. The energy of the
gamma ray is given by

h  K e  I B (24)
 MEASUREMENT OF GAMMA-RAY
ENERGIES
• Scintillation Method

The use of a NaI(Tl) crystal is one of the simplest and most reliable
methods for energy, as well as intensity, measurements of gamma
rays from 50 keV to several MeV. Though the resolution is not high,
it has a very high efficiency. The pulses produced are directly
proportional to the energy deposited inside the crystal.

Compton distribution and photoelectric peaks also show up and are

easily recognized.
 INTERNAL CONVERSION

As mentioned in discussion of beta decay, there generally is a line

spectrum superimposed on the continuous beta spectrum. These
monoenergetic electrons are called conversion electrons, and the
process by which they are emitted is called internal conversion.

The kinetic energy, Ke , of the conversion electrons is given by the

formula
K e  E  I B (25)

IB represents the corresponding binding energy of the electron, and

E is the available energy for gamma emission by the nucleus.
 THE AUGER EFFECT

The Auger effect is the emission of low-energy orbital electrons as

an alternative to the emission of x-rays. There is always a vacancy
created in the electronic shells by internal conversion, photoelectric
effect, electron capture, or some other transitions.
This vacancy is filled by the transition of an electron from an outer
orbit to the inner orbit, and the excited inner orbit gets rid of its
energy either by emission of x-rays or by transferring its energy to
the electron in a lower-energy shell. The electrons emitted by such a
process are Auger electrons.
For example, if there is a vacancy in the K-shell, the transition of an
electron from L-shell to K-shell will result in the excitation of the K-
shell with energy equal to the difference in the binding energies of
the K- and L- shells.
E  I K  I L (26)
 THE AUGER EFFECT

The excited K-shell gets rid of its energy either by emitting a photon
of energy hνκ given by hνκ = IK-IL, where νκ is the frequency of the
K x-ray or by emitting an L-Auger electron with a kinetic energy KL
given by
K L  E  I L  I K  2 I L (27)
 INTERNAL PAIR PRODUCTION

Whenever gamma rays of energies, greater than 1.02 MeV interact

with an absorber, electron-positron pairs are produced in the
coulomb field of the nucleus. It has been shown that an excited
nucleus with energy >2m0c2 may de-excite by a creation of an
electron-positron pair somewhere in its own coulomb field.

Such a process is called internal pair-conversion and is an alternative

to the -emission and conversion-electron emission. Again the
process, just like -decay and conversion-electron process, is due to
an electromagnetic interaction. The total available energy, E0, for the
transition is distributed as
E0  2m0 c 2  K   K  (28)
where K+ and K- are the kinetic energies of the positron and
electron, respectively, and 2m0c2 is the sum of the rest masses of the
positron and the electron.
 REFERENCES

1. Introductory Nuclear Physics. Kenneth S. Krane

2. Fundamentals of Nuclear Physics. Atam. P. Arya