Nuclear Science and Engineering

(16B1NPH535)
Module 4
Interaction of Charged
Particles with Matter

Dr. Manoj Tripathi

 Interaction of charged particle with matter
How uncharged particle interacts, like wise charged particle can also interact with matter.

Charged particle interaction mediated by Columbic forces.

Interaction may happen between Charged particle and Orbital electron (Ionization &
Excitation) & Charged particle and Atomic Nuclei (Radiative Energy Loss).

Sometimes, Charged Particle

interaction causes nuclear
reactions.

Ex: Proton interacts with Tissues

and emits 11C, 13N, and 15O.

Depends upon mass, charged

particles becomes Heavy and Light
ones.
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

Charged particle interaction with matter can

be divided in two groups.

Elastic Inelastic

KE before and after KE before and after

is same is not same

Alpha, Proton, Neutron and Deuteron are

comes into Heavy Particles.

Force proportional to Charge of the particles

and the separation between them.
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

Consider a particle of mass M, moving

with a velocity ν from point M to Q’.

Here Particle mass > Electron

mass m0.

By applying Coulomb forces, Momentum

imparted on electron the energy lost by
charged particle becomes.
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

Observation-1 Observation-2

Impact parameter
High energy and high
velocity Particle The distance of closest approach between the
moving charged particle and the electron.

Less energy transfer

Less time only Charged Particle

will be in region of electron
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

b >> atomic radius

Energy transfer is less

Transferred energy << BE of electron
Collisions are mostly elastic

b > atomic radius

Energy transfer is small but high as compared to previous case.

Transferred energy ≤ BE of electron
Soft or distant collision
Ionization or excitation can be caused
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

b = atomic radius

Considerable energy transfer occurs

Transferred energy ≥ BE of electron Hard or close collision
May cause δ-ray production

b < atomic radius

Interaction between charged particle and nuclei becomes more probable

Causes bremsstrahlung photon generation
Ionization or excitation can be caused
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

Impact parameter conclude that

The energy loss of a charged particle in a distance dx is given as

 Cross Section of Nuclear Reaction

Nuclear cross section is a measure of probability that the bombarding particle will interact with
the target nucleus
This probability may be visualized in terms of area presented by the target nucleus to the
interacting article.
Larger is the cross section, greater is the chance that the particle will interact with the nucleus

Kinetic energy of incident particle Unit of Nuclear cross section

Nuclear Cross can be barn
Nature of the incident particle
Section
1 barn = 10-28 m2
Nature of the target nucleus

Nuclear cross section 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
𝜎=
can be defined as 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑏𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
 Interaction of charged particle with matter

Bremsstrahlung radiation is the radiation given off by a

charged particle (most often an electron) due to its
acceleration caused by an electric field of another
charged particle (most often a proton or an atomic
nucleus).
“Bremsstrahlung” is a German word meaning braking
radiation. Refers to the way in which electrons are
“braked” while hitting a metal target.
The incident electrons are free, meaning they’re not
bound to an atom or ion, both before and after the Consequently, this kind of radiation’s
braking. spectrum is continuous (unlike atomic
spectra, which contain sharp spectral
If the energy of the incident electrons is high lines) and sometimes referred to as “free-
enough, they emit X-rays after they have been free” radiation
braked.
 Interaction of charged particle with matter: Photoelectric effect

When red light hits the metal foil, the foil does not emit (give off) electrons

Use of blue or green light emit

electrons.

Blue light has more energy than

red light

How to get more energy using

red light

Try increasing the intensity of

blue light…
More blue light means more electrons emitted, but
that doesn’t work with red
 Interaction of charged particle with matter: Photoelectric effect

When a metal surface is exposed to a

monochromatic electromagnetic wave of
sufficiently short wavelength (or
equivalently, above a threshold frequency),
the incident radiation is absorbed and the
exposed surface emits electrons. This
phenomenon is known as the photoelectric
effect. Electrons that are emitted in this
process are called photo electrons.

In 1901, Max Planck suggested light was

made up of ‘packets’ of energy
E = hν
 Interaction of charged particle with matter: Photoelectric effect

In 1905, Albert Einstein presented the idea Threshold frequency (ν0)

that energy is not just emitted as quanta,
but continues to exist in this form Frequency of photon just sufficient to take
the electron out.
Thus light is a stream of photons, each
with energy hν At threshold frequency KE of
recoiled electron will be 0
The number of electrons emitted by a
surface is proportional to the number of h 𝑣 0 =𝜑
incident photons h𝑐
=𝜑
An electron is emitted as soon as a photon λ0
reaches the surface
The minimum amount of energy that has to
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝h𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛=𝐾𝐸 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛+𝜑 be given to an electron to release it from the
1 2 Work surface of the material and varies depending
h ν= 𝑚 𝑣 +𝜑 on the material
2 function
 Laws of Photoelectric Effect

For a light of frequency; γ>γth, photoelectric current is proportional to the intensity of light
For any given material, there is some minimum-energy frequency, which is the threshold
frequency. Below is the emission of photoelectrons stops completely, irrespective of the intensity
of incident light.
The maximum kinetic energy of the
photoelectrons increases with the increase in
the frequency of incident light. The
maximum kinetic energy is not dependent on
the intensity of light.

The photo-emission is the instantaneous

process
 Laws of Photoelectric Effect

Monochromatic light of wavelength 400 nm strikes a plate of metal. This metal has a work function
of 2.14 eV. Find the energy of the electrons that eject.
Solution
:
Planck’s constant, h = 6.62×10−34Js
Wavelength, λ = 400nm = 400×10−9m

Thus frequency, ν = 1400×10−9

= 2.5×106 Hz

The energy equation is: E = hν–W

= −3.4×10−19J =−2.12 eV

Since work function is greater in magnitude than the energy obtained, so there
will be no current generated
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
Compton Effect
 Compton Effect

Direction of recoiled electron

KE of the recoiled electron

KE = h’
 Compton Effect
• Loss in photon energy = gain in electron energy
h- h/ = T
• No, if we consider momentum conservation in the direction of original photon and in
the direction perpendicular to it, then we have,

Before After p 
scattered photon
θ
p
Incoming photon Electron 
pe scattered electron
Momentum conservation in the direction of motion:
h h 
0  cos   p cos  ( A)
c c
and Momentum conservation in perpendicular direction:
h 
0 sin   p sin  ( B)
c
 Compton Effect
Multiplying equations (A) and (B) by c, we can rewrite them as
By squaring and adding we get
pc cos  h  h cos 
pc sin  h sin 

p 2c 2 ( h ) 2  2( h )( h ) cos  ( h ) 2 (C )
remember total energy of a particle is
E T  m0c 2  m02c 4  p 2c 2


 T  m0c 
2 2
m02c 4  p 2c 2
or , p 2c 2 T 2  2m0c 2T
 Compton Effect

Since , Kinetic Energy, T h  h '

Substituting T in the above equation,
We have:

p c (h )  2(h )(h )  (h )  2m0 c (h  h )

 
2 2 2 2 2
( D)
Equating equations (C) and (D) we obtain

2m0 c 2 ( h  h ) 2( h )( h )(1  cos  ) (E)

 Compton Effect
Dividing equation ‘E’ by 2h2c2 we get

m0 c         (1  cos  )
  
h  c c  c c
m0 c  1 1  (1  cos  )
or ,    
h     
Therefore ,
h
   (1  cos  ) (F )
m0 c

Equation was derived by A . H. Compton in the 1920 and

the phenomenon it describes, is known as Compton
Effect. Here, h/m0c is known as Compton wavelength of the
scattering particle. For an electron, it is 0.024 .
h
   1  cos   h
me c c  Compton wavelength  2.4 10  12 m
me c
c 1  cos   0
 Compton Effect

• For visible light (400nm – 700nm);

’- = ˂ 0.01% i.e. change in  is
very small.
• For x-rays (0.1nm) ;
’- = > 1 % i.e. change in  is
several . % of incident light.
Q.1: X-rays of wavelength 100 pm are scattered from
the target. Find (i) the wavelength of scattered
photon at an angle of 45o , (ii) the max wavelength
present in the scattered x-rays (iii) maximum kinetic
energy of the recoiled electron. Ans.: (i) 100.7pm,
(ii) 104.9pm, (iii) 40.8keV

Q.2: An x-ray photon of initial frequency 1.5x1019Hz collides with an electron at rest. The frequency of the
scattered photon is 1.2x1019Hz. What will be the amount of KE imparted to the electron.
 Compton Effect
In a scattering experiment photon has a wavelength of 3 A. Calculate the wavelength of scattered
radiation if it is deviated by an angle of 60 degree.
 Compton Effect
An incident 71-pm X-ray is incident on a calcite target. Find the wavelength of the X-ray scattered at a
30° angle. What is the largest shift that can be expected in this experiment?