katódsugárröntgensugárzást

Katódsugár-röntgensugárzás, commonly referred to as cathode ray X-radiation, describes the process by which X-rays are produced when a beam of electrons (cathode rays) strikes a target material. This phenomenon is fundamental to the operation of X-ray tubes and is also observed in other electron-beam devices.

The generation of X-rays through this mechanism involves several key steps. First, a stream of electrons is accelerated to high velocities by a strong electric field. These electrons are typically emitted from a heated filament (the cathode) within a vacuum tube. Upon reaching significant kinetic energy, the electrons collide with a solid target material, often made of a high atomic number metal like tungsten.

During these collisions, two primary types of X-ray emission occur. Bremsstrahlung, or "braking radiation," is produced when the high-speed electrons are decelerated by the electric fields of the target nuclei. This deceleration causes the electrons to lose energy, which is emitted as photons of X-radiation. The energy of these photons can vary across a continuous spectrum, depending on the degree of deceleration. The second type is characteristic X-radiation, which arises from the excitation and subsequent de-excitation of electrons within the target atoms. When an incident electron knocks out an inner-shell electron from a target atom, an outer-shell electron drops down to fill the vacancy, releasing energy in the form of an X-ray photon with a specific energy characteristic of the target element. This combined process of Bremsstrahlung and characteristic radiation constitutes the X-ray output from such a source.