Z-dependence of thick-target bremsstrahlung produced by monoenergetic low-energy electrons

The dependence of thick-target bremsstrahlung emitted by low-energy beams of monoenergetic electrons on the atomic number of the target material has been investigated experimentally for incident electron energies of 4.25 keV and 5.00 keV using thick aluminum, copper, silver, tungsten, and gold targets. Experimental data suggest that the intensity of the thick-target bremsstrahlung emitted is more strongly dependent on the atomic number of the target material for photons with energies that are approximately equal to the energy of the incident electrons than at lower energies, and also that the dependence of thick-target bremsstrahlung on the atomic number of the target material is stronger for incident electrons of higher energies than for incident electrons of lower energies. The results of the experiments are compared to the results of simulations performed using the PENELOPE program (which is commonly used in medical physics) and to thin-target bremsstrahlung theory, as well. Comparisons suggest that the experimental dependence of thick-target bremsstrahlung on the atomic number of the target material may be slightly stronger than the results of the PENELOPE code suggest.