Physics project by

Rishabh Sharma 928 PM

Compton Effect
Photoelectric effect of pair
production
 History

Compton effect or Compton scattering

was discovered by an American physicist
Arthur Holly Compton. And got Noble Prize
in Physics in 1927 for this discovery in 1923.
 History

In 1922, he found that X-ray quanta

scattered by free electrons had longer
wavelengths and, in accordance with
Planck's relation, less energy than the
incoming X-rays, the surplus energy having
been transferred to the electrons. This
discovery, known as the "Compton effect"
or "Compton scattering", demonstrated the
particle concept of electromagnetic
radiation.
 History

In 1923, Compton published a paper in the Physical

Review that explained the X-ray shift by attributing
particle-like momentum to photons, In his paper,
Compton derived the mathematical relationship
between the shift in wavelength and the scattering
angle of the X-rays by assuming that each
scattered X-ray photon interacted with only one
electron. His paper concludes by reporting on
experiments that verified his derived relation.
 The Phenomena

Compton effect or Compton scattering is a

phenomena that when a light
wave(Photon) is incident on an electron ,
there is a decrease in energy of the photon
as a part of its initial energy is transferred to
the electron which is scattered . This effect is
called the Compton effect or Compton
Scattering.
 Description of Notations

λi - Wavelength of incident photon.

λf - Wavelength of scattered photon.
h - Planck’s constant.
c - Speed of light (constant).
mο - Mass of the electron at rest.
θ - Angle made with x-axis by scattered photon.
φ - Angle made with x-axis by recoiling electron.
Δλ - Change in wavelength or Compton shift.
i.e. λf - λi .
 Application

1. Radiobiology
 Pair Production

Pair production is the creation of an

elementary particle and its antiparticle
from a neutral boson. Examples include
creating an electron and a positron, a
muonand an antimuon, or a proton and an
antiproton. Pair production often refers
specifically to a photon creating an
electron-positron pair near a nucleus.
 Pair Production

The antiparticle of electron (e⁻) is called

positron (e⁺).The minimum energy of the
photon required to undergo pair
production is the sum of the rest energies of
pair particles created. This energy is called
Threshold energy. Which is 1.02MeV.
 Pair Annihilation

The inverse of pair production is called

pair annihilation. When an electron and
a positron come sufficiently close , they
combine due to the electrostatic force
of attraction between them and
disappear simultaneously by producing
two gamma photons of equal energy.
e⁻ + e⁺ → 𝛾+𝛾.
 Photoelectric effect

The photoelectric effect is the emission of

electrons or other free carriers when light
shines on a material. Electrons emitted in
this manner can be called photo electrons.
According to classical electromagnetic
theory, this effect can be attributed to the
transfer of energy from the light to an
electron. Minimum energy required for this
effect is called photoelectric work function.
Which ranges from 0 to 1MeV.
 Photoelectric Effect of Pair Production

According to above statement we can

say that photoelectric effect uses the
same method as pair production but
according to its threshold’s range in this
case the energy of the photon is very
low as compared to the photon making
a pair production occur. As mentioned
earlier that minimum energy of that
photon should be 1.02MeV.
for low-energy phenomena:
photoelectric effect
for mid-energy phenomena:
Compton effect
for high-energy phenomena:
pair production
 So that was all about
photon’s interaction with
matter.
THANK YOU
 References
● Das, A.; Ferbel, T. (2003-12-23). Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics. World Scientific. ISBN
9789814483339.
● Jump up^ Stefano, Meroli. "How photons interact with matter". Meroli Stefano Webpage.
Retrieved 2016-08-28.
● Jump up^ Bywater, Jenn (29 October 2015). "Exploring dark matter in the inaugural Blackett
Colloquium". Imperial College London. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
● Jump up^ Hubbell, J. H. (June 2006). "Electron positron pair production by photons: A historical
overview". Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 75 (6): 614–623. Bibcode:2006RaPC...75..614H.
doi:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2005.10.008.
● Jump up^ Kuncic, Zdenka (12 March 2013). "PHYS 5012 - Radiation Physics and Dosimetry" (PDF).
Index of Dr. Kuncic's Lectures. The University of Sydney - Dr. Kuncic. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
● Jump up^ "Laser technique produces bevy of antimatter". MSNBC. 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
The LLNL scientists created the positrons by shooting the lab's high-powered Titan laser onto a
one-millimeter-thick piece of gold.