x-ray 2

X-rays interact with matter in three main ways, through photoabsorption, Compton scattering, and Rayleigh scattering. The strength of these interactions depend on the energy of the X-rays and the elemental composition of the material, but not much on chemical properties since the X-ray photon energy is much higher than chemical binding energies. Photoabsorption or photoelectric absorption is the dominant interaction mechanism in the soft X-ray regime and for the lower hard X-ray energies. At higher energies, Compton scattering dominates.

Photoelectric absorption

The probability of a photoelectric absorption per unit mass is approximately proportional to Z³/E³, where Z is the atomic number and E is the energy of the incident photon. This rule is not valid close to inner shell electron binding energies where there are abrupt changes in interaction probability, so called absorption edges. However, the general trend of high absorption coefficients and thus short penetration depths for low photon energies and high atomic numbers is very strong. For soft tissue photoabsorption dominates up to about 26 keV photon energy where Compton scattering takes over. For higher atomic number substances this limit is higher. The high amount of calcium (Z=20) in bones together with their high density is what makes them show up so clearly on medical radiographs.

A photoabsorbed photon transfers all its energy to the electron with which it interacts, thus ionizing the atom to which the electron was bound and producing a photoelectron that is likely to ionize more atoms in its path. An outer electron will fill the vacant electron position and the produce either a characteristic photon or an Auger electron. These effects can be used for elemental detection through X-ray spectroscopy or Auger electron spectroscopy.

Compton scattering

Compton scattering is the predominant interaction between X-rays and soft tissue in medical imaging.^[12] Compton scattering is an inelastic scattering of the X-ray photon by an outer shell electron. Part of the energy of the photon is transferred to the scattering electron, thereby ionizing the atom and increasing the wavelength of the X-ray. The scattered photon can go in any direction, but a direction similar to the original direction is a bit more likely, especially for high-energy X-rays. The probability for different scattering angles are described by the Klein–Nishina formula. The transferred energy can be directly obtained from the scattering angle from the conservation of energy and momentum.

Rayleigh scattering

Rayleigh scattering is the dominant elastic scattering mechanism in the X-ray regime.^[13] The inelastic forward scattering is what gives rise to the refractive index, which for X-rays is only slightly below 1.^[14]

Production of x-rays

Whenever charged particles (electrons or ions) of sufficient energy hit a material, x-rays are produced.

Production by electrons

Characteristic X-ray emission lines for some common anode materials.^[15][16]

Anode material	Atomic number	Photon energy [keV]		Wavelength [nm]
		Kα1	Kβ1	Kα1	Kβ1
W	74	59.3	67.2	0.0209	0.0184
Mo	42	17.5	19.6	0.0709	0.0632
Cu	29	8.05	8.91	0.157	0.139
Ag	47	22.2	24.9	0.0559	0.0497
Ga	31	9.25	10.26	0.134	0.121
In	49	24.2	27.3	0.0512	0.455

Spectrum of the X-rays emitted by an X-ray tube with a rhodium target, operated at 60 kV. The smooth, continuous curve is due to bremsstrahlung, and the spikes are characteristic K lines for rhodium atoms.

X-rays can be generated by an X-ray tube, a vacuum tube that uses a high voltage to accelerate the electrons released by a hot cathode to a high velocity. The high velocity electrons collide with a metal target, the anode, creating the X-rays.^[17] In medical X-ray tubes the target is usually tungsten or a more crack-resistant alloy of rhenium (5%) and tungsten (95%), but sometimes molybdenum for more specialized applications, such as when softer X-rays are needed as in mammography. In crystallography, a copper target is most common, with cobalt often being used when fluorescence from iron content in the sample might otherwise present a problem.

The maximum energy of the produced X-ray photon is limited by the energy of the incident electron, which is equal to the voltage on the tube times the electron charge, so an 80 kV tube cannot create X-rays with an energy greater than 80 keV. When the electrons hit the target, X-rays are created by two different atomic processes:

1. Characteristic X-ray emission: If the electron has enough energy it can knock an orbital electron out of the inner electron shell of a metal atom, and as a result electrons from higher energy levels then fill up the vacancy and X-ray photons are emitted. This process produces an emission spectrum of X-rays at a few discrete frequencies, sometimes referred to as the spectral lines. The spectral lines generated depend on the target (anode) element used and thus are called characteristic lines. Usually these are transitions from upper shells into K shell (called K lines), into L shell (called L lines) and so on.
2. Bremsstrahlung: This is radiation given off by the electrons as they are scattered by the strong electric field near the high-Z (proton number) nuclei. These X-rays have a continuous spectrum. The intensity of the X-rays increases linearly with decreasing frequency, from zero at the energy of the incident electrons, the voltage on the X-ray tube.

So the resulting output of a tube consists of a continuous bremsstrahlung spectrum falling off to zero at the tube voltage, plus several spikes at the characteristic lines. The voltages used in diagnostic X-ray tubes range from roughly 20 to 150 kV and thus the highest energies of the X-ray photons range from roughly 20 to 150 keV.^[18]

Both of these X-ray production processes are inefficient, with a production efficiency of only about one percent, and hence, to produce a usable flux of X-rays, most of the electric power consumed by the tube is released as waste heat. The X-ray tube must be designed to dissipate this excess heat.

Short nanosecond bursts of X-rays peaking at 15-keV in energy may be reliably produced by peeling pressure-sensitive adhesive tape from its backing in a moderate vacuum. This is likely to be the result of recombination of electrical charges produced by triboelectric charging. The intensity of X-ray triboluminescence is sufficient for it to be used as a source for X-ray imaging.^[19] Using sources considerably more advanced than sticky tape, at least one startup firm is exploiting tribocharging in the development of highly portable, ultra-miniaturized X-ray devices.^[20]

A specialized source of X-rays which is becoming widely used in research is synchrotron radiation, which is generated by particle accelerators. Its unique features are X-ray outputs many orders of magnitude greater than those of X-ray tubes, wide X-ray spectra, excellent collimation, and linear polarization.^[21]

Production by fast positive ions

X-rays can also be produced by fast protons or other positive ions. The Proton-induced X-ray emission or Particle-induced X-ray emission is widely used as an analytical procedure. For high energies, the production cross section is proportional to Z₁²Z₂⁻⁴, where Z₁ refers to the atomic number of the ion, Z₂ to that of the target atom.^[22] An overview of these cross sections is given in the same reference.