bremsstrahlung

bremsstrahlung (brĕm`shträ'ləng): see X ray.

---

bremsstrahlung

(German; “braking radiation”)

Electromagnetic radiation produced by a sudden slowing down or deflection of charged particles, especially electrons, passing through matter in the vicinity of the strong electric fields of atomic nuclei. It occurs as cosmic rays pass through the Earth's atmosphere and accounts for continuous X-ray spectra.

---

bremsstrahlung [′brem‚shträ·ləŋ]

(electromagnetism)

Radiation that is emitted by an electron accelerated in its collision with the nucleus of an atom.

---

Bremsstrahlung

In a narrow sense, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by electrons when they pass through matter. Charged particles radiate when accelerated, and in this case the electric fields of the atomic nuclei provide the force which accelerates the electrons. The continuous spectrum of x-rays from an x-ray tube is that of the bremsstrahlung; in addition, there is a characteristic x-ray spectrum due to excitation of the target atoms by the incident electron beam. The major energy loss of high-energy (relativistic) electrons (energy greater than about 10 MeV, depending somewhat upon material) occurs from the emission of bremsstrahlung, and this is the major source of gamma rays in a high-energy cosmic-ray shower. See Electromagnetic radiation

In a broader sense, bremsstrahlung is the radiation emitted when any charged particle is accelerated by any force. To a great extent, as a source of photons in the ultraviolet and soft x-ray region for the investigation of atomic structure (particularly in solids), bremsstrahlung from x-ray tubes has been replaced by synchrotron radiation. Synchrotron radiation is an analog to bremsstrahlung, differing in that the force which accelerates the electron is a macroscopic (large-scale) magnetic field.