Tip region of the bremsstrahlung spectrum from incident electrons of kinetic energy 50 keV—1.84 MeV

Abstract

Numerical calculations for the tip region of the electron bremsstrahlung spectrum are reported for incident electron kinetic energies in the range from 50 keV to 1.84 MeV. The calculations are exact within the framework of a single electron in a screened central potential and are obtained by summing integrals resulting from a partial-wave expansion of the wave functions. Results are compared with previous theoretical calculations and with experiments. For low energies the screening correction to the spectrum is generally not small. We find that for high-$Z$ elements the discrepancies between theory and experiment reported by Starek, Aiginger, and Unfried are due to the use of inaccurate theoretical approximation. For low-$Z$ elements the discrepancy remains.