Vacuum UV and soft X-ray optical emissions from electron impact on metals
Spectrograms from 2200 to 20 A of optical emissions produced by a simple lamp using fast (3-10-keV) electron impact on tungsten and tantalum targets are presented. The lamp dissipated up to 5 kW/sq cm on the target surface, simultaneously cleaning the surface and generating bremsstrahlung in the soft X-ray region with 3-keV electron impact and longer wavelength transition radiation at the higher energy. In both the bremsstrahlung and transition radiation modes, the lamp emissions were of sufficient strength and reproducibility to qualify the two mechanisms as potential processes for use in a secondary standard light source. Calculated spectral distributions of transition radiation for normally incident electrons on tungsten, tantalum, and aluminum targets, with a viewing direction 45 deg from the normal, are also shown.