Interaction of Radiation With Matter
Interaction of Radiation With Matter
Interaction of Radiation With Matter
K.L. Ramakumar
India
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Interaction of Radiation with Matter
Interaction: Process or phenomenon resulting
when Radiation passes through Matter
Radiation
Corpuscular Electromagnetic
Charged Neutral
Li h
Light H
Heavy Li h
Light H
Heavy
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Why Interaction?
What is the consequence?
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Rutherford's alpha scattering
experiments During 1909
Metal box was evacuated to
minimize alpha loss by scattering
molecules The source
from air molecules. M t l box
Metal b
was 226Ra (to be precise, its decay
product 222Rn) at R.
Diaphragm
p g placed
p at D acted as
collimator to direct a beam of
Rutherford Gold foil
particles normally on to the
experiment apparatus
scattering foil F.
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Why study interaction?
Rutherford’s Gold foil experiment
Through interactions of
particles with the matter in the
gold foil, elucidation of atomic
structure became possible
Alpha
particles
Ernest Rutherford, first baron (1871 - 1937)
Rutherford had established a new branch of physics called
radioactivity. His work on radioactive decay won him the
1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He also established the nuclear theory of the atom. In 1919,
he announced his success in the artificially disintegration of
an atom.
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We will understand Interaction of
particles
electrons
rays
neutrons
fission fragments
in gaseous medium
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Example of particle interaction in gaseous medium
particle : 4He2+ Energy in MeV range
Massive alpha particles travel almost straight paths
((negligible
li ibl momentum transfer
f in i each
h collision
lli i with
i h tiny
i
electron in the gaseous molecule)
Gaseous atoms along the path will get ionised
Energy of particle goes on reducing (ultimately it
stops
p and gets
g neutralized becoming
g He atom))
Interactions of all types
of radiations ultimately
lead to production of ion
pairs through loss of
energy
Ionisation of gaseous
Particles Medium species along the path
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What happens during interaction of radiations?
Interaction results in
Dissociation of molecules of the medium
Excitation and ionisation of molecules or atoms
of the medium
Energy of the radiation is reduced
About 35 eV of energy is spent by the radiation to
generate an ion pair in the medium.
Energy of particle No. ion pairs produced
5 MeV 5x106 1.4x105
35
Energy
gy required
q per
p ion pair
p is independent
p of energy
gy
and type of radiation and also of the medium
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Interaction of Charged Particles
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Interaction processes : excitation,
ionization, scattering and various types of
radiative losses of energy
On an average, approximately 34 electron
volts
lt off energy is
i lost
l t for
f each
h primary
i i
ion
pair formed in air. This is more or less
independent
p of nature of charged
g particle
p
Only about half to two-thirds of this energy
is actually required to remove the orbital
electron, the balance being lost in
electronic excitation processes
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Average energy lost by the incident radiation/particle
in a gaseous medium
(W-value:
(W value: eV/ion pair)
Medium Electron particle
Ar 27 0
27.0 25 9
25.9
He 32.5 31.7
H2 38.0 37.0
N2 35.8 36.0
O2 32.2 32.2
Air 35.0 35.2
CH4 30.2 29.0
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The mechanisms by which a charged particle loses
it kinetic
its ki ti energy, or deflected
d fl t d from
f it original
its i i l path,
th
involve four principal types of interaction.
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Interaction of Heavy Charged Particles (e.g. Alpha
Particles) with Matter
2m v2
S = dE = 4πe z NZ ln 0
4 2
dx m v2 I
0
dE 4πe 4z2
2m v2
S= = NZ ln 0 ln(1 )
2 2
dx m v2
I
0
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Expression for the stopping power of a medium
dE 4πe 4z2 2m v2
S= = NZ ln 0
dx m v2 I
0
Hans Bethe (1906 - 2005)
Hans Bethe
H h servedd as the
h chief
h f off the
h theoretical
h l division
d
for the Manhattan Project. At the end of the Second
World War, Bethe, along with Edward Teller, worked on
the development of the hydrogen bomb.
bomb
In 1967 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for
research in the nuclear reactions in stars.
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Usefulness of stopping power equation
- dE
d α z2 - dE
d α 1 =1
dx dx v2 E
For th
F the same velocity
l it andd charge
h off the
th
incident radiation, stopping power is same
1H+ 2H+ 3H+ Same charge (z = 1)
If velocity is also same, then dE is same
dx
Alpha particle (He2+), charge z = 2 Proton (H+) z = 1
If velocities of alpha and proton are same then
- dE α z2 dE 4 - dE
-
= (22) = 4
dx dx α dx
H
Alphas lose energy 4 times faster than protons if
both have same velocity
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Usefulness of stopping power equation
- dE α z 2 - dE α 12 = 1
dx dx v E
Combining both
- dE z
α 2
2
- dE .v 2 α z 2
dx v dx
- dE 1
. mv α m z
2 1 2 1
mv 2 is kinetic energy E
dx 2 2 2
- dE . E α 1 mz 2 Particle identifier
telescope
p pprinciple
p
dx 2
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Particle identifier detectors
Radiation
R di ti
source
Total absorption
Transmission detector
Detector to measure - dE
dx
Total energy (E) is obtained from sum of the
signals from the two detectors
- dE 1
. E α mz 2 dE E
-2 . 2 α m
dx 2 dx z
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Range of alpha particles in a medium
After the complete loss of energy in the medium, the
charged particle picks up electrons and gets
neutralised
The distance travelled in the medium up to the
stopping is called range extrapolated
range Re
No.. particles
Mean range
Distance
Alpha particles are monoenergetic ions
Collisions in the medium and rate of energy
transfer are purely statistical
Distribution of ranges occur - Straggling
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Bragg curve for
rate
t off energy loss.
l
2m v2
S = dE = 4πe z NZ
4 2
N lnl 0
dx m v2 I
0
It can be seen from the above expression that the stopping
power is greatest for high-density, high-Z materials, and for
ions in higher charge states. Shown above is a sketch of
Bragg
gg Curve for the rate of energy gy loss. As the charged
g
particle losses its energy, the stopping power increases. At
the end of its path, the stopping power is the highest. Thus,
along the path, the ion-pair density is the highest at the
path end.
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6600 ion pairs/mm
p
proton
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Sir William Henry Bragg OM,OM KBE (2 July 1862 – 10 March 1942)
was a British physicist and chemist who uniquely shared the Nobel
Prize in Physics with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, in 1915 for x-
ray diffraction phenomenon.
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For a given energy E of the charged particle, range
can be
b expressedd as
2
R a E 2
mz
at 1 atmosphere
p and 150C and E = Energy
gy in MeV.
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End of path
Interaction of Light Charged
P ti l
Particles (e.g.
( Electrons)
El t )
with Matter
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Path length = S
(Entry to end of Path)
Range = R Linear distance
Path length > Range
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Mechanisms
M h i off Interaction
I t ti Between
B t Electrons
El t
and Matter
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Bremsstrahlung
When a fast-moving electron is accelerated or
decelerated when passing through the field of
atomic nuclei, a photon is emitted, and such
photons are called bremsstrahlung radiation.
Acceleration produced by a nucleus of charge Ze
and mass M on a p particle of charge
g ze and mass m
is proportional to MZze2/m.
Intensity is proportional to (acceleration)2 x (ze)2 =
(MZze2/m)2 x (ze)2 = M2Z2z4e6/m2
2 2 4 6
Bremsstrahlung intensity M Z z e
m2
Energy emitted by an accelerated particle is
proportional to 1/m2. Bremsstrahlung is
therefore significant
g for light
g p
particles such
as electrons.
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Energy loss in electron interaction
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Bremsstrahlung radiation
Bremsstrahlung radiation is a German word for breaking radiation. In
the vicinity of an electric field being generated by the atomic nuclei, the
acceleration off ppassingg electrons changes
g substantially,
y, which results in
change in the kinetic energy of the electrons. This change (break) in
kinetic energy is manifested as electromagnetic radiation called
Bremsstrahlung radiation.
Synchrotron radiation
If the change in the acceleration of electrons is due to the presence of
magnetic field,
f ld then
h alsol electromagnetic
l radiation
d is emitted.
d This
Th is
called synchrotron radiation.
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Bremsstrahlung radiation and discovery of μ meson
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Range-Energy Relations for Mono-energetic
Electrons
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Unlike in the case of heavy charged particles, the
determination of Rm for particles is not easy. Feather
Feather’s
s
method of evaluating the maximum range for particles is
widely used. This can easily be adopted for laboratory
experiments.
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Interaction of Electromagnetic radiations with
Matter
Gamma or X-rays do not carry an electric charge and
pass through a large number of atoms without any
interaction taking place.
Elastic scattering
2 Interaction with nucleons B
(coherent)
Interaction with the electric
Inelastic scattering
3 field surrounding the nuclei C
((incoherent))
or electrons
Interaction with the meson
4
field surrounding nucleons
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Thus there are 12 different processes by which rays can
interact with matter. But there are only three major
processes on interaction (see previous slide). These are the
photoelectric effect (1A), the Compton effect (1C), and pair
production
d ti (3A)
(3A).
e-
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Photoelectric absorption
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Compton Effect (Compton scattering)
The x-ray or gamma-ray loses only part of its energy in its
interaction with an atomic electron. The electron is ejected
from its atom. The x-ray or gamma-ray of reduced energy
and the electron fly off in different directions.
directions
E Ē
The p
process of Compton
p scattering
g
An incident ray scatters from an outer shell electron in
the absorber material at an angle , and some of the ray
energy is imparted to the electron.
electron Conservation of energy
and momentum leads us to the following expression for the
energy of the scattered photon:
_ E
E
1 (E /m0c2)(1 cos )
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Compton started a study of X-ray scattering. This led, in 1922, to
his discovery of the increase of wavelength of X-rays due to
scattering
i off the
h incident
i id radiation
di i by b free
f electrons,
l which
hi h
implies that the scattered quanta have less energy than the
quanta of the original beam. This effect, nowadays known as the
Compton effect clearly illustrates the particle concept of
electromagnetic radiation., For this discovery, Compton was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1927 (sharing this with
Arthur Holly
C
Compton
t
C. T. R. Wilson who received the Prize for his discovery of the
(1892 - 1962) cloud chamber method).
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Compton scattering
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Compton scattering
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Pair production
511 KeV
511 KeV
E e+
e-
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Pair production
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Gamma ray interaction probability
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Absorption behaviour of gamma rays
Unlike charged particles,
particles a well
well-collimated
collimated beam of rays shows a
truly exponential absorption in matter. This is because photons are
absorbed or scattered in a single event.
That is,, those collimated
photons which pass transmission
through the absorber have increases with
increasing gamma-
no interaction, while the ray energy and
ones absorbed have been decreases with
eliminated from the beam increasing absorber
in a single event. This thickness.
leads to exponential
attenuation. I = I0e-μx
where μ is mass
absorption coefficient and
x is the absorber
thickness. I0 is the initial
intensity and I is the
transmitted intensity of
gamma rays.
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Pair production and Bremsstrahlung
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Interaction of Neutrons with Matter
Neutrons do not carry any electric charge
They do not have any coulombic interactions with electrons
in the matter and do not directly produce ionization and are
not continuously
i l slowed
l d down.
d
They interact with atomic nuclei, only through the nuclear
force which has an extremely short range.
Therefore they must score an almost direct hit on a nucleus
before an interaction occurs.
Since atomic nuclei are so much smaller than the atoms,
atoms
the probability of an energetic neutron hitting a nucleus is
very low and neutrons can traverse great thicknesses of
material before being stopped.
stopped
Common neutron reactions are (1) Spallation reactions, (2)
Elastic scattering, (3) Inelastic scattering, (4)
Transmutation (5) Radiative capture.
Transmutation, capture
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Interaction of Neutrons with Matter
Spallation
S ll ti R
Reactions
ti
At very high energies (over 150 MeV) neutrons may strike a
nucleus producing a shower of secondary particles including
secondary neutrons and gamma rays.
rays These high energy
secondary particles would in turn interact within the
medium and get detected
Elastic
El ti Scattering
S tt i
The neutrons simply bounce off atomic nuclei. The elastic
interaction of neutrons with atomic nuclei is most important
at neutron energies below the threshold for nuclear
reactions at a few MeV. The amount of energy which a
neutron loses in a collision with a nucleus will be large only
if the nucleus is relatively light. The most violently recoiling
atomic nuclei are the lightest, namely those of hydrogen
atoms. A neutron can lose all its kinetic energy in a single
collision with a pproton. Thus,, light
g nuclides are effective
moderators, but not heavy nuclides.
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Interaction of Neutrons with Matter
Inelastic
I l ti Scattering
S tt i
A neutron may strike a nucleus and form a compound
nucleus instead of bouncing off as in elastic scattering. This
nucleus is unstable and emits a neutron of lower energy
together with a gamma photon which takes up the
remaining energy. This process is most effective at high
neutron energies in heavy materials.
Transmutation
When neutrons,, p protons,, or other secondary
y pparticles
produced by spallation strike a nucleus and form a
compound nucleus which then ejects a different particle, a
transmutation is said to have occurred. These nuclear
reactions are most likely to occur when the energy of the
incident particle is between a few MeV and several tens of
MeV.
Ex : 16O(N,
Ex.: O(N P) 16N
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Interaction of Neutrons with Matter
Radiative Capture
This is one of the most common neutron reactions. The
neutron is captured by a nucleus which emits only a gamma
photon. This reaction, which occurs in most materials, is the
most important one for neutrons with very low energy. The
product nuclei of ((n, ) reactions are usually
p y radioactive and
are beta and gamma emitters.
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Detection of neutrons
14N + n 11B+
10B + n 7Li +
Or 6Li + n 7Li +
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Suggested Reading
Glenn F. Knoll, Radiation Detection and
Measurement, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1989)
G. F
G Friedlander,
i dl d J
J.W.
W KKennedy,
d E E.S.
S MMacias
i and
dJJ.M.
M
Miller, Nuclear and Radiochemistry, John Wiley &
Sons, New York (1980)
R.D. Evans, The Atomic Nucleus, Mc Graw Hill Inc.,
New York (1955)
S.S. Kapoor and V.S. Ramamurthy, Radiation
Detection and Measurements, Wiley (Eastern), New
Delhi (1988)
H.J.
H J Arnikar
Arnikar, Essentials of Nuclear Chemistry,
Chemistry Wiley
(Eastern), New Delhi (1994)
B.G. Harvey, Introduction to Nuclear Physics and
Chemistry, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi (1965)
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Who has seen the radiations?
Neither I nor you!
But out of interactions
In the matter they traverse
And
d tthrough
oug tell-tale
te ta e signs
sg s
Of electrical signal they leave behind
Their presence is sure-felt!
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