DOE OSTI2011
Experimental results are presented comparing the intensities of the bremsstrahlung produced by electrons with initial energies ranging from 10 to 20 keV incident on a thick Ag target, measured at forward angles in the range of 0 degree sign to 55 degree sign . When the data are corrected for attenuation due to photon absorption within the target, the results indicate that the detected radiation is distributed anisotropically only at photon energies k that are approximately equal to the initial energy of the incident electrons E{sub 0}. The results of our experiments suggest that, as k/E{sub 0}{yields} 0, the detected radiation essentially becomes isotropic due primarily to the scattering of electrons within the target. A comparison to the theory of Kissel et al.[At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 28, 381 (1983)] suggests that the angular distribution of bremsstrahlung emitted by electrons incident on thick targets is similar to the angular distribution of bremsstrahlung emitted by electrons incident on free-atom targets only when k/E{sub 0}{approx_equal} 1. The experimental data also are in approximate agreement with the angular distribution predictions of the Monte Carlo program penelope.
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗