An accurate absolute-scale measurement of bremsstrahlung following absorption of incident X- and gamma-rays

Measurement has been made of the spectrum of bremsstrahlung due to photoele ctrons ejected by incident photons of energy 59.5 keV. Use was made of a co incidence set up with two HP germanium detectors, the target-detector recor ding the energy of the ejected photoelectron after it radiated a bremsstrah lung photon and a second detector measuring the energy of the radiated brem sstrahlung photon. Detailed analysis of the applied experimental method was undertaken. Also included in this report are details of the processing of the data, including calculations of various detector-to-detector cross-talk processes. Experimental values of cross section are in good agreement with calculated values obtained using either the well-known semi-empirical thic k-target formula or a simple theoretical model of bremsstrahlung radiation due to photoelectrons in an infinitely thick target. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.