Pidurduskiirgus

Pidurduskiirgus, or bremsstrahlung, is electromagnetic radiation produced when a charged particle, most often an electron, is decelerated or deflected by the electric field of another charge, typically a nucleus in matter. The process occurs whenever high-energy charged particles pass near atomic nuclei and lose energy by emitting photons.

The mechanism involves the acceleration or deceleration of the charged particle in the Coulomb field, which causes the emission of a photon. In solids or gases, fast electrons experience many small deflections and decelerations, producing a continuous spectrum of X-ray photons. The maximum photon energy in a given interaction cannot exceed the energy of the incident electron. The intensity and shape of the spectrum depend on factors such as the electron energy and the atomic number of the material.

The bremsstrahlung spectrum is generally continuous and is described in quantum electrodynamics by theories such as the Bethe–Heitler framework. For a given material, higher atomic number and higher electron energy increase the production rate. In thick targets the emitted spectrum differs from that in thin targets due to multiple interactions and energy loss along the path.

Pidurduskiirgus is a principal mechanism for X-ray generation in X-ray tubes and plays an important role in high-energy physics and astrophysics. It also contributes to the X-ray emission from hot, ionized plasmas in space. In practical applications, it is accompanied by ionizing radiation and requires appropriate shielding and radiation safety measures.