A Simple Method for the Investigation of Secondary Electrons Excited byγ−Raysand the Interference of These Electrons with Measurements of Primaryβ−RaySpectra

Abstract

It has been shown that the special directional distribution of the Compton electrons can be used to obtain their absorption curve and therefore their upper limit of energy without employing coincidence measurements. This fact has to be taken into account when inspecting primary $\beta -\mathrm{s}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}$ by absorption measurements. It has been found that the complexity of the primary $\beta -\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{y}$ spectrum of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{59}$ reported by Livingood and Seaborg is apparently due to the interference of secondary electrons. Some problems connected with the directional distribution of the Compton electrons and concerning the efficiency of $\gamma -\mathrm{c}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{s}$ are discussed.