Angular distributions of parametric X-ray radiation from a diamond crystal

Angular distributions of parametric X-ray radiation (PXR) from 255 MeV electrons incident on a 50 μm thick diamond crystal are presented. Almost all experiments on the angular distributions of PXR have been performed using Si crystals. The purpose of the present work is to extend this research to diamond crystals. An imaging plate was adopted as a two-dimensional position-sensitive X-ray detector, and high-quality PXR angular distribution data were successfully obtained. The measured PXR angular distributions were compared with those predicted theoretically and good agreement was obtained. The cause of the slight difference observed around the center position (Bragg direction) is also discussed.