2nd Semester,

MSc (Radiological Physics), 2021

RP2.1 : Radiation Physics:

Interaction of Radiation with Matter
Lesson-6

Kalyanee Boruah
21 July, 2021
 Syllabus
Interaction of charged particles with matter :

Classical theory of inelastic collision with atomic

electrons.
Energy loss per ion pair by primary and
secondary ionization-
Dependence of collision energy losses on the
physical and chemical state of the absorber-
Cerenkov radiation-
Electron absorption process- Scattering
excitation and ionization-
Radiative collision- Bremmstrahlung-
 Multiple Coulomb Scattering
• In addition to inelastic collisions with the atomic
electrons, charged particles passing through matter also
suffer repeated elastic Coulomb scatterings from nuclei.
Ignoring spin effects and screening, these collisions are
individually governed by the well -known Rutherford
formula,
. . . . . (1)

Because of its 1/sin4(/2) dependence, the majority of

these collisions result in a small angular deflection of the
particle. We assume here that the nuclei are much more
massive than the incident particles so that the small
energy transfer to the nucleus is negligible. The particle
thus follows a random zigzag path as it traverses the
material. The cumulative effect of these small angle
scatterings is, however, a net deflection from the original
particle direction.
• In general, the treatment of Coulomb scattering in
matter is divided into three regions:
• 1) Single Scattering. If the absorber is very thin such
that the probability of more than one Coulomb
scattering is small, then the angular distribution will be
given by simple Rutherford formula.
• 2) Plural Scattering. If the average number of
scatterings N<20, then we have plural scattering.
• 3) Multiple Scattering. If N>20, and energy loss is small
or negligible, the problem can be treated statistically to
obtain probability distribution for the net angle of
deflection as a function of the thicknes of material
traversed.
• Figure 1 shows an example of this distribution of
15MeV electrons passing through a thin gold foil. At
small angles, this space angle distribution (with respect
to solid ange!) is close to that of a Gaussian, but as
angle increases, corrective terms come into play to
form a long broad tail.
• The deflections at larger angles are generally due to
one single, large angle Coulomb scattering in the
material rather than to the cumulative effect of many
small angle scatterings.
• The broad tail, therefore, should roughly follow that of
the Rutherford 1/sin4(/2) form for single scattering
rather than that of a Gaussian. The transition between
the small and larger angle regions is governed by
plural scattering.
Fig.1 : Angular distribution of 15.7 MeV electrons
scattered from a thin Au foil
 Multiple Scattering in the Gaussian
Approximation
If we ignore the small probability of large-angle single
scattering, the effect of multiple scattering in a given
material can be obtained by considering the
distribution resulting from the small angle (<10°) single
scatterings only. In such a case, the probability
distribution is approximately Gaussian in form,

. . . . . (2)

The parameter <2> represents the mean squared

scattering angle, as can be shown by integrating
∫2P()dfrom  = 0 to . The square root √<2>
is known as the RMS scattering angle.
 Backseattering of Low-Energy Electrons
Because of its small mass, electrons are particularly
susceptible to large angle deflections by scattering
from nuclei. This probability is so high, in fact, that
multiply scattered electrons may be turned around in
direction altogether, so that they are backscattered out
of the absorber. This is illustrated schematically in Fig.
2.
The effect is particularly strong for low energy electrons,
and increases with the atomic number Z of the
material. Backscattering also depends on the angle of
incidence. Electrons entering at obliques angles to the
surface of the absorber have a greater probability of
being scattered out than those incident along the
perpendicular.
Fig.2 : Backscattering of electrons due to
large angle multiple scatterings
The ratio of the number of backscattered electrons to
incident electrons is known as the backscattering
coefficient or albedo.
Figure 3 shows some measured coefficients for various
materials and electron energies.
Backscattering is an important consideration for electron
detectors where depending on the geometry and
energy, a large fraction of electrons may be scattered
out before being able to produce a usable signal. For
non-collimated electrons on a high-Z material such as
Nal, for example, as much as 80% may be reflected
back.
Fig.3 : Some measured electron backscattering coefficients
for various materials. The electrons are perpendicularly
incident on the surface of the sample.
Energy Loss by Radiation: Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung is the process by which high energy
electron emits a photon when it interacts with the
electromagnetic field of the nucleus of the medium.
The emission probability varies as the inverse square
of the particle mass

Since bremsstrahlung emission depends on the strength

of the electric field felt by the electron, the amount of
screening from the atomic electrons surrounding the
nucleus plays an important role. The cross section is
thus dependent not only on the incident electron
energy but also on its impact parameter and the atomic
number, Z, of the material.
The effect of screening can be parametrized by the
quantity

where E0 is the initial total energy of electron (or

positron);
E is the final total energy of electron;
h is the energy of photon emitted.
This parameter  is related to the radius of the Thomas-
Fermi atom and is small,  ≈ 0, for complete screening
and large,  >> 1, for no screening.
 Critical energy

Fig.4 : Radiation loss vs. collision loss for electrons in copper.

For comparison, the dE/dx for protons is also shown