

General background

Types of radiation



Electromagnetic rays and neutrinos

Visible light and the other components of the electromagnetic spectrum



Neutrinos and antineutrinos


Matter rays




The structure and properties of matter

Matter in bulk comprises particles that, compared to radiation, may be said to be at rest, but the motion of the molecules that compose matter, which is attributable to its temperature, is equivalent to travel at the rate of hundreds of metres per second. Although matter is commonly considered to exist in three forms, solid, liquid, and gas, a review of the effects of radiation on matter must also include mention of the interactions of radiation with glasses, attenuated (low-pressure) gases, plasmas, and matter in states of extraordinarily high density. A glass appears to be solid but is actually a liquid of extraordinarily high viscosity, or a mixture of such a liquid and embedded microcrystalline material, which unlike a true solid remains essentially disorganized at temperatures much below its normal freezing point. Low-pressure gases are represented by the situation that exists in free space, in which the nearest neighbour molecules, atoms, or ions may be literally centimetres apart. Plasmas, by contrast, are regions of high density and temperature in which all atoms are dissociated into their positive nuclei and electrons.

The capability of analyzing and understanding matter depends on the details that can be observed and to an important extent on the instruments that are used. Bulk, or macroscopic, matter is detectable directly by the senses supplemented by the more common scientific instruments, such as microscopes, telescopes, and balances. It can be characterized by measurement of its mass and, more commonly, its weight, by magnetic effects, and by a variety of more sophisticated techniques, but most commonly by optical phenomena—by the visible or invisible light (i.e., photons) that it absorbs, reflects, or emits or by which its observable character is modified. Energy absorption, which always involves some kind of excitation, and the opposed process of energy emission depend on the existence of ground-state and higher energy levels of molecules and atoms. A simplified system of energy states, or levels, is shown schematically in Figure 1. Such a system is exactly fixed for each atomic and molecular system by the laws of quantum mechanics; the “allowed,” or “permitted,” transitions between levels, which may involve energy gain or loss, are also established by those same laws of nature. Excitation to energy levels above those of the energetically stable molecules or atoms may result in dissociation or ionization: molecules can dissociate into product molecules and free radicals, and, if the energy absorption is great enough, atoms as well as molecules can yield ions and electrons (i.e., ionization occurs). Atomic nuclei themselves may exist in various states in which they absorb and emit gamma rays under certain conditions, and, if the nuclei are raised to, or by some process left in, energy states that are sufficiently high, they may themselves emit positrons, electrons, alpha particles, or neutrons (and neutrinos) or dissociate into the nuclei of two or more lighter atoms. The resulting atoms may be similarly short-lived and unstable, or they may be extremely long-lived and quite stable.

The effects of radiation

The interaction of radiation with matter can be considered the most important process in the universe. When the universe began to cool down at an early stage in its evolution, stars, like the Sun, and planets appeared, and elements such as hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), and carbon (C) combined into simple molecules such as water (H2O), ammonia (NH3), and methane (CH4). The larger hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, acids, and amino acids were ultimately built as a result of the action (1) of far-ultraviolet light (wavelength less than 185 nanometres) before oxygen appeared in the atmosphere, (2) of penetrating alpha, beta, and gamma radiations, and (3) of electric discharges from lightning storms when the temperature dropped and water began to condense. These simple compounds interacted and eventually developed into living matter. To what degree—if at all—the radiations from radioactive decay contributed to the synthesis of living matter is not known, but the occurrence of high-energy-irradiation effects on matter at very early times in the history of this world is recorded in certain micas as microscopic, concentric rings, called pleochroic halos, produced as the result of the decay of tiny specks of radioactive material that emitted penetrating products, such as alpha particles. At the termini of their paths, particles of this kind produced chemical changes, which can be seen microscopically as dark rings. From the diameters of the rings and the known penetrating powers of alpha particles from various radioactive elements, the nature of the specks of radioactive matter can be established. In some cases, alpha particles could not have been responsible for the effects observed; in other cases, the elementary specks that occupied the centres of the halos were not those of any presently known elements.

It can be readily surmised that some of the elements that participated in the evolution of the world were not originally present but were produced as the result of external high-energy bombardment, that some disappeared as the result of such processes, and that many compounds required for the living processes of organisms evolved as a consequence of the high-energy irradiation to which all matter is subjected. Hence, radiation is believed to have played a major role in the evolution of the universe and is ultimately responsible not only for the existence of life but also for the variety of its forms.

Fundamental processes involved in the interaction of radiation with matter

The passage of electromagnetic rays

The field concept

A discussion of this subject requires preliminary definition of a few of the more common terms. Around every particle, whether it be at rest or in motion, whether it be charged or uncharged, there are potential fields of various kinds. As one example, a gravitational field exists around the Earth and indeed around every particle of mass that moves with it. At every point in space, the field has direction in respect to the particle. The strength of the gravitational field around a specific particle of mass, m, at any distance, r, is given by the product of g, the universal gravitational constant, and m divided by the square of r, or gm/r2. The field extends indefinitely in space, moves with the particle when it moves, and is propagated to any observer with the velocity of light. Newton showed that the mass of a homogeneous spherical object can be assumed to be concentrated at its centre and that all distances can be measured from it. Similarly, electric fields exist around electric charges and move with them. Magnetic fields exist around electric charges in motion and change in intensity with all changes in the accompanying electric field, with the magnetic field at any point being perpendicular to the electric field in free space. Any regular oscillation is time-dependent, as is any change in field strength with time.

Time-dependent electric and magnetic fields occur jointly; together they propagate as what are called electromagnetic waves. In an assumed ideal free space (without intrusion from other fields or forces of any kind, devoid of matter, and, thus, in effect without any intrusions, demarcations, or boundaries), such waves propagate with the speed of light in the so-called transverse electromagnetic mode—one in which the directions of the electric field, the magnetic field, and the propagation of the wave are mutually perpendicular. They constitute a right-handed coordinate system; i.e., with the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand perpendicular to each other, the thumb points in the direction of the electric field, the forefinger in that of the magnetic field, and the middle finger in that of propagation. A boundary may be put on the space by appropriate physical means (bound space), or the medium may be something other than a vacuum (material medium). In either case, other forces and other fields come into the picture, and propagation of the wave is no longer exclusively in the transverse electromagnetic mode. Either the electric field or the magnetic field (a matter of arbitrary choice) may be considered to have a component parallel to the direction of propagation itself. It is this parallel component that is responsible for attenuation of energy of the waves as they propagate.

Frequency range

Electromagnetic waves span an enormous range of frequencies (number of oscillations per second), only a small part of which fall in the visible region. Indeed, it is doubtful that lower or upper limits of frequency exist, except in regard to the applicability of present-day instrumentation. Figure 2 indicates the usual terminology employed for electromagnetic waves of different frequency or wavelength. Customarily, scientists designate electromagnetic waves by fields, waves, and particles in increasing order of the frequency ranges to which they belong. Traditional demarcations into fields, waves, and particles (e.g., gamma-ray photons) are shown in the figure. The distinctions are largely of classical (i.e., nonquantum) origin; in quantum theory there is no need for such distinctions. They are preserved, however, for common usage. The term field is used in a situation in which the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves is larger than the physical size of the experimental setup. For wave designation, the wavelength is comparable to or smaller than the physical extent of the setup, and at the same time the energy of the photon is low. The particle description is useful when wavelength is small and photon energy is high.

Properties of light

The ordinary properties of light, such as straight-line propagation, reflection and refraction (bending) at a boundary or interface between two mediums, and image formation by mirrors or lenses, can be understood by simply knowing how light propagates, without inquiring into its nature. This area of study essentially is geometrical optics. On the other hand, the extraordinary properties of light do require answers to questions regarding its nature (physical optics). Thus, interference, diffraction, and polarization relate to the wave aspect, while photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production relate to the particle aspect of light. As noted above, light has dual character. It is the duality in the nature of light, as well as that of matter, that led to quantum theory.

Wave aspects of light

In general, radiation interacts with matter; it does not simply act on nor is it merely acted upon. Understanding of what radiation does to matter requires also an appreciation of what matter does to radiation.

When a ray of light is incident upon a plane surface separating two mediums (e.g., air and glass), it is partly reflected (thrown back into the original medium) and partly refracted (transmitted into the other medium). The laws of reflection and refraction state that all the rays (incident, reflected, and refracted) and the normal (a perpendicular line) to the surface lie in the same plane, called the plane of incidence. Angles of incidence and reflection are equal; for any two mediums the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction have a constant ratio, called the mutual refractive index. All these relations can be derived from the electromagnetic theory of Maxwell, which constitutes the most important wave theory of light. The electromagnetic theory, however, is not necessary to demonstrate these laws.

Double refraction


If a beam of light is made to enter an Iceland spar crystal at right angles to a face, it persists in the crystal as a single beam perpendicular to the face and emerges as a single beam through an opposite parallel face. If the exit face is at an angle not perpendicular to the beam, however, the emergent beam is split into two beams at different angles, called the ordinary and extraordinary rays, and they are usually of different intensities. Clearly, any beam that enters an Iceland spar crystal perpendicular to its face and emerges perpendicular to another face is of changed character—although superficially it may not appear to be changed. Dependent on the relative intensities and the phase relationship of its electric components (i.e., their phase shift), the beam is described as either elliptically or circularly polarized. There are other ways of producing partially polarized, plane-polarized, and elliptically (as well as circularly) polarized light, but these examples illustrate the phenomena adequately.

Polarization of an electromagnetic wave can be shown mathematically to relate to the space-time relationship of the electromagnetic-field vector (conventionally taken as the electric vector, a quantity representing the magnitude and direction of the electric field) as the wave travels. If the field vector maintains a fixed direction, the wave is said to be plane-polarized, the plane of polarization being the one that contains the propagation direction and the electric vector. In the case of elliptic polarization, the field vector generates an ellipse in a plane perpendicular to the propagation direction as the wave proceeds. Circular polarization is a special case of elliptic polarization in which the so-described ellipse degenerates into a circle.

An easy way to produce circularly polarized light is by passage of the light perpendicularly through a thin crystal, as, for example, mica. The mica sample is so selected that the path difference for the ordinary and the extraordinary rays is one-quarter the wavelength of the single-wavelength, or monochromatic, light used. Such a crystal is called a quarter-wave plate, and the reality of the circular polarization is shown by the fact that, when the quarter-wave plate is suitably suspended and irradiated, a small torque—that is, twisting force—can be shown to be exerted on it. Thus, the action of the crystal on the light wave is to polarize it; the related action of the light on the crystal is to produce a torque about its axis.

The ratio of the intensity of the reflected light to that of the incident light is called the reflection coefficient. This quantitative measure of reflection depends on the angles of incidence and refraction, or the refractive index, and also on the nature of polarization.

It can be shown that the reflection coefficient at any angle of incidence is greater for polarization perpendicular to the plane of incidence than for polarization in the plane of incidence. As a result, if unpolarized light is incident at a plane surface separating two media, reflected light will be partially polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence, and refracted light will be partially polarized in the plane of incidence. An exceptional case is the Brewster angle, which is such that the sum of the angles of incidence and refraction is 90°. When that happens, the reflection coefficient for polarization in the plane of incidence equals zero. Thus, at the Brewster angle, the reflected light is wholly polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence. At an air-glass interface, the Brewster angle is approximately 56°, for which the reflection coefficient for perpendicular polarization is 14 percent. Another extremely important angle for refraction is the critical angle of incidence when light passes from a denser medium to a rarer one. It is that angle for which the angle of refraction is 90° (in this case the angle of refraction is greater than the angle of incidence). For angles of incidence greater than the critical angle there is no refracted ray; the light is totally reflected internally. For a glass-to-air interface the critical angle has a value 41°48′.


The variation of the refractive index with frequency is called dispersion. It is this property of a prism that effects the colour separation, or dispersion, of white light. An equation that connects the refractive index with frequency is called a dispersion relation. For visible light the index of refraction increases slightly with frequency, a phenomenon termed normal dispersion. The degree of refraction depends on the refractive index. The increased bending of violet light over red by a glass prism is therefore the result of normal dispersion. If experiments are done, however, with light having a frequency close to the natural electron frequency, some strange effects appear. When the radiation frequency is slightly greater, for example, the index of refraction becomes less than unity (<1) and decreases with increasing frequency; the latter phenomenon is called anomalous dispersion. A refractive index less than unity refers correctly to the fact that the speed of light in the medium at that frequency is greater than the speed of light in vacuum. The velocity referred to, however, is the phase velocity or the velocity with which the sine-wave peaks are propagated. The propagation velocity of an actual signal or the group velocity is always less than the speed of light in vacuum. Therefore, relativity theory is not violated. An example is shown in Figure 3, in which a light source is initially pointed in the direction A. The source rotates in such a way that the velocity of the light image moves from D to E with a velocity v approximating c. Thus, the phase velocity with which the image moves from A to B is greater than c, but the relativity principle is not violated because the velocity of transmission of matter or energy does not exceed the velocity of light.

Electromagnetic waves and atomic structure

Quantum concepts


Absorption and emission






Particle aspects of light


The photoelectric effect

The photoelectric effect is caused by the absorption of electromagnetic radiation and consists of electron ejection from a solid (or liquid) surface, usually of a metal, though nonmetals have also been studied. In the case of a gas, the term photoionization is more common, though there is basically little difference between these processes. In spite of experimental difficulties connected with surface-adsorbed gas and energy loss of ejected electrons in penetrating a layer of the solid into vacuum, early experimenters established two important features about the photoelectric effect. These are: (1) although the photoelectric current (i.e., the number of photoelectrons) is proportional to the incident-light intensity, the energy of the individual photoelectrons is independent of light intensity; and (2) the maximum energy of the ejected electron is roughly proportional to the frequency of light. These observations cannot be explained in terms of wave theory. Einstein argued that the light is absorbed in quanta of energy equal to Planck’s constant (h) times light frequency, hν, by electrons, one at a time. A minimum energy symbolized by the Greek letter psi, ψ, called the photoelectric work function of the surface, must be supplied before the electron can be ejected. When a quantum of energy is greater than the work function, photoelectric emission is possible with the maximum energy symbolized by the Greek letter epsilon, ε, of the photoelectronmax) being stated by Einstein’s photoelectric equation as equaling the difference between the photon energy and the work function; i.e., εmax = hν - ψ. Einstein’s interpretation gave strong support for the quantum theory of radiation. Early experiments determined Planck’s constant, h, independently through the above equation and also established the fact that an immeasurably small time delay is involved between absorption of a quantum of light and the ejection of an electron. The latter is clearly indicative of particle-like interaction.

Accurate and reliable values of the work function and ejection energy are now available for most solids; the chief obstacles to the development of such data were the difficulty of preparing clean surfaces and the energy loss of electrons in penetration into vacuum. The photoelectric threshold frequency, symbolized by the Greek letter nu with subscript zero, ν0, is that frequency at which the effect is barely possible; it is given by the ratio of the work function symbolized by the Greek letter psi, ψ, to Planck’s constant (ν0 = ψ/h). The photoelectric yield, defined as the ratio of the number of photoelectrons to that of incident photons, serves as a measure of the efficiency of the process. Photoelectric yield starts from a zero value at threshold, reaches a maximum value (about 1/1,000) at about twice the threshold frequency, and falls again when frequency is further increased. Some unusual alloys exhibit yields up to 100 times greater than normal (i.e., about 0.1). Normally the yield depends also on polarization and angle of incidence of the radiation. Parallel polarization (polarization in the plane of incidence) gives higher yield than does perpendicular polarization, in some instances by almost 10 times.

Cross section and Compton scattering

A useful concept in describing the absorption of radiation in matter is called cross section; it is a measure of the probability that photons interact with matter by a particular process. When the energy of each individual photon (hν) is much smaller than the rest energy of the electron (its mass times the velocity of light squared [mc2]), the scattering of photons is described by a cross section derived by J.J. Thomson. This cross section is called the Thomson cross section, symbolized by the Greek letter sigma with subscript zero, σ0, and is equal to a numerical factor times the square of the term, electric charge squared divided by electron rest energy, or σ0 = (8π/3) (e2/mc2)2. When the photon energy is equal to or greater than the electron’s rest energy of (hν ⋜ mc2), inelastic (i.e., energy loss) scatterings begin to appear. One such is Compton scattering, in which an X ray or gamma ray (electromagnetic radiation from an atomic nucleus) experiences an increase in wavelength (reduction in energy) after being scattered through an angle. Arthur Holly Compton, an American physicist, correctly interpreted the effect by using the laws of classical relativistic mechanics. He showed that the increase in wavelength symbolized by the Greek letters delta and lambda, Δλ, is independent of the energy of the photon and is given by an expression in which the product of two terms appears. The first is a universal constant symbolized by the Greek letter lambda with subscript zero, λ0, generally called the Compton wavelength, and itself equal to Planck’s constant, h, divided by the mass of the electron at rest and the velocity of light; i.e., λ0 = h/mc = 2.4 × 10-10 centimetre. The second is a term dependent on the angle symbolized by the Greek letter theta, θ, through which the photon is scattered; it is one minus the cosine of that angle, or 1 - cos θ. The increase in wavelength observed at that angle is simply Δλ = λ0(1 - cos θ). In discussing the Compton effect, the electron is treated as free—that is, not bound to a nucleus—because, in the study of that effect for most materials of low atomic number, the incident photon has energy much greater than the binding energy. For bound electrons, the corrections to the Compton relation are small but complicated. When photons are scattered, the concept of differential cross sections may be used; differential cross section is a measure of the probability that a photon will be scattered within a given small angle.

The differential cross section for the Compton process was derived by the Swedish physicist Oskar Klein and the Japanese physicist Yoshio Nishina. The Klein–Nishina formula shows almost symmetrical scattering for low-energy photons about 90° to the beam direction. As the photon energy increases, the scattering becomes predominantly peaked in the forward direction, and, for photons with energies that are greater than five times the rest energy of the electron, almost the entire scattering is confined within an angle of 30°. When averaged over the angle, the Klein–Nishina cross section shows variation with the incident photon energy. At low energy this cross section increases uniformly and approaches the classical Thomson value as energy is decreased; at high energy the cross section is inversely proportional to the energy. The energy distribution of Compton electrons (recoil or scattered electrons) and outgoing photons may also be derived from the Klein–Nishina theory. The result shows a wide distribution; for atoms of low atomic number and incident photon energies in the region of importance (i.e., 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 eV), the probability of scattering per unit energy interval is fairly constant—except that, for the case of nearly total conversion of the photon energy into electron kinetic energy, a plot of energy versus angle shows a sharp, narrow peak. Thus, as a crude approximation, the average energy of a Compton electron is about half the incident photon energy.

Compton scattering plays a key role in the interaction of matter with intermediate-energy gamma rays and high-energy X rays. For these radiations, it is almost the exclusive mechanism by which energy is transferred from the radiation and added to the matter. An example may be cited of the penetration of gamma rays from the radioactive substance cobalt-60 into a sample of water or aqueous solution. The electron density is approximately 3 × 1023 per millilitre. Taking the Compton cross section as approximately 3 × 10-25 square centimetre per electron, calculation yields a mean free path for Compton scattering of about 10 centimetres—that is to say, a photon will move about 10 centimetres between successive encounters with electrons. The dominant radiation effect produced by a gamma ray therefore is attributable to the recoil electron and the vast number of progeny (such as secondary and tertiary electrons) that are produced. These higher generation electrons are produced through electron-impact ionization (an electron is removed from an atom by the collision of another electron), a process that continues until barred either by energetic limitation or by low cross section. For cobalt-60 gamma rays the average Compton energy in a material of low atomic number, such as water, is approximately 600,000 eV.

Pair production

Pair production is a process in which a gamma ray of sufficient energy is converted into an electron and a positron. A fundamental law of mechanics, given by Newton, is that in any process total linear (as well as angular) momentum remains unchanged. In the pair-production process a third body is required for momentum conservation. When that body is a heavy nucleus, it takes very little recoil energy, and therefore the threshold is just twice the rest energy of the electron; i.e., twice its mass, m, times the square of the velocity of light, c2, or 2mc2. Pair production also can occur in the field of an atomic electron, to which considerable recoil energy is thereby imparted. The threshold for such a process is four times the rest energy of an electron, or 4mc2. The total pair-production cross section is the sum of the two components, nuclear and electronic. These cross sections depend on the energy of the gamma ray and are usually calculated in an electron theory proposed by the British physicist P.A.M. Dirac through a method of approximation that is a simplification of a method (a “first approximation”) devised by the German physicist Max Born (i.e., a “first Born approximation”). The process is envisaged by Dirac as the transition of an electron from a negative to a positive energy state. Corrections are required for these cross sections at high energy, at high atomic number, and for atomic screening (the intrusion of the field of the electrons in an atom); these are normally made via numerical procedures. The fraction of residual energy, symbolized by the Greek letter alpha, unexpended in conversion of energy to mass, that appears in any one particle (e.g., the electron) is thus given by the kinetic energy of that electron Ee minus its rest energy mc2 divided by the energy of the gamma ray hν (i.e., the product of Planck’s constant and the frequency of the gamma ray) minus twice the rest energy of the electron 2mc2, or α = (Ee -mc2)/(hν - 2mc2). Because the same equation applies to each of the two electrons that are formed, it must be symmetric about the condition that each of the particles has half the residual energy, symbolized by the Greek letter alpha, α (in excess of that conveyed to the “third body”); i.e., that α = 0.5. Below an energy of about 10,000,000 eV for the gamma ray, the probability for pair production (i.e., the pair-production cross section) is almost independent of the atomic number of the material, and, up to about 100,000,000 eV of energy, it is also almost independent of the quantity α. Even at extremely high energies the probability that a certain fraction of the total available energy will appear in one particle is almost independent of the fraction as long as energy is comparably distributed between the two particles (excepting in cases in which almost all energy is dumped into one particle alone). Typical pair-production cross sections at 100 MeV (million electron volts) are approximately 10-24 to 10-22 square centimetre, increasing with atomic number. At high energies, approximately equal to or greater than 100 MeV, pair production is the dominant mechanism of radiation interaction with matter.

Clearly, as the photon energy increases, the dominant interaction mechanism shifts from photoelectric effect to Compton scattering to pair production. Rarely do photoelectric effect and pair production compete at a given energy. Compton scattering, however, at relatively low energy competes with the photoelectric effect and at high energy competes with pair production. Thus, in lead, interaction below 0.1 MeV is almost exclusively photoelectric; between 0.1 MeV and 2.5 MeV both photoelectric and Compton processes occur; and between 2.5 MeV and 100 MeV Compton scattering and pair production share the interaction. In the pair process the photon is annihilated, and an electron–positron pair is created. On the other hand, an electron or positron with energy approximately equal to or greater than 100 MeV loses its energy almost exclusively by production of high-energy bremsstrahlung (X rays produced by decelerating electric charges) as the result of interaction with the field of a nucleus. The cross section for bremsstrahlung production is nearly independent of energy at high energies, whereas at low energies the dominant energy-loss mechanism is by the creation of ionizations and excitations. A succession of bremsstrahlung and pair-production processes generates a cascade or shower in the absorber substance. This phenomenon can be triggered by an electron, a positron, or a photon, the triggering mechanism being unimportant as long as the starting energy is high. A photon generates a pair through pair production, and the charged particles generate photons through bremsstrahlung, and so on repeatedly as long as the energy is kept sufficiently high. With penetration into the substance, the shower increases in size at first, reaches a maximum, and then gradually decreases. Loss of particles by degradation to lower energies (in which the yield of bremsstrahlung is low), ionization loss, and production and absorption of low-energy photons eventually reduce the size of the cascade. The mathematical theory of cascades has been developed in great detail.

X rays and gamma rays

When light of sufficiently high frequency (or energy equal to hν), independent of its source, is absorbed in a molecular system, the excited molecular state so produced, or some excited state resultant from it, may either interact with other molecules or decompose to produce intermediate or ultimate products; i.e., chemical reactions ensue. Study of such processes is encompassed in the subject of photochemistry (see below Molecular activation).

Electromagnetic waves of energy greater than those usually described as ultraviolet light (see Figure 2) are included in the classes of X rays or gamma rays. X-ray and gamma-ray photons may be distinguished by definition on the basis of source. They are indistinguishable on the basis of effects when their energy is absorbed in matter.

The total effect of X-ray or gamma-ray irradiation of matter, in the almost immediate time interval, is the production of high-energy electrons of energy related to that of the incident ray. Such electrons behave like beta rays (electrons emitted from atomic nuclei) or electrons from a machine source of the same energy. They lose energy by excitation and ionization of atoms and molecules of the systems they traverse. The amount of energy such an electron gives to an atom or molecule tends to exceed that deposited in photochemical processes, and the variety of initial physical (and consequent chemical) effects is more numerous and diverse. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the secondary electrons produced in ionization processes in which the input of energy is high may themselves initiate other ionization and excitation processes that can yield further chemistry, the totality of which is embraced in the title of radiation chemistry (see below Molecular activation and Ionization and chemical change).

The passage of matter rays

Heavy charged particles

Charged particles, such as atomic or molecular ions or molecular fragments, that travel in a material medium deposit energy along their paths, or tracks. If the medium is sufficiently thick, the velocity of the charged particle is reduced to near zero so that its energy is all but totally absorbed and is totally utilized in producing physical, chemical, and, in viable (living) matter, biologic changes. If the sample is sufficiently thin, the particle may ultimately emerge, but with reduced energy.

Linear energy transfer and track structure

The stopping power of a medium toward a charged particle refers to the energy loss of the particle per unit path length in the medium. It is specified by the differential -dE/dx, in which -dE represents the energy loss and dx represents the increment of path length. What is of interest to the radiation scientist is the spatial distribution of energy deposition in the particle track. In approximate terms, it is customary to refer to linear energy transfer (LET), the energy actually deposited per unit distance along the track (i.e., -dE/dx). For not-so-fast particles, stopping power and LET are numerically equal; this situation covers all heavy particles studied so far in chemistry and biology but not electrons. In a refined study and redefinition of LET or restricted linear collision stopping power, a quantity symbolized by the letter L with subscript Greek letter delta, LΔ, is defined as equal to the fractional energy lost (-dE) per unit distance traversed along the track (dl), or LΔ = -(dE/dl)Δ, in which the subscript delta (Δ) indicates that only collisions with energy transfer less than an amount Δ are included. The quantity LΔ may be expressed in any convenient unit of energy per unit length. For Δ equal to 100 eV, even the most energetic secondary electrons (i.e., electrons ejected by the penetrating particle) produce on average only about three subsequent ionizations. The latter, however, are closely spaced because of the low energy of the electron, and hence the corresponding energy density is high. It is higher yet for lower-energy secondary electrons. In contrast, for Δ much in excess of 100 eV, more subsequent ionizations are produced, but their spacing is increased significantly and the corresponding density of energy deposition is low. Since only the region of high energy density is of concern for many applications, the quantity L100 is often used to characterize LET.

The bulk of energy deposition resulting from the passage of a fast-moving, charged particle is concentrated in the “infratrack,” a very narrow region extending typically on the order of 10 interatomic distances perpendicular to the particle trajectory. The extent of the infratrack is dependent on the velocity of the particle, and it is defined as the distance over which the electric field of the particle is sufficiently strong and varies rapidly enough to produce electronic excitation. Inside the infratrack, electrons of the medium are attracted toward the trajectory of a positively charged particle. Many cross the trajectory, depositing energy on both sides. Consequently, the infratrack is characterized by an exceedingly high density of energy deposition and plays a vital role in determining the effects of ionizing radiation on the medium. (The magnitude of energy deposition in the infratrack is further increased by the preponderance of collective [plasma] excitations in that region.) The concept of the infratrack was developed by the American physicists Werner Brandt and Rufus H. Ritchie and independently by Myron Luntz. The region outside the infratrack is beyond the direct influence of the penetrating particle. Energy deposition in this outer region, or “ultratrack,” is due primarily to electronic excitation and ionization by secondary electrons having sufficient energy to escape from the infratrack. In contrast to the infratrack, the ultratrack does not have well-defined physical bounds. Its spatial extent may reasonably be equated with the maximum range of secondary electrons transverse to the particle trajectory.

For practical purposes, LET is associated with the main track, which may be thought of as including the infratrack and a portion of the ultratrack out to which energy density is still relatively high—i.e., the region over which excitation is caused by secondary electrons of initial energy less than some value Δ, say 100 eV. Energy deposited in “blobs” or “short tracks” to the side of the main track, as described in the Mozumder–Magee theory of track effects (named for Asokendu Mozumder, an Indian-born physicist, and John L. Magee, an American chemist) is purposefully excluded. LET, so defined, characterizes energy deposition within a limited volume—i.e., energy locally deposited about the particle trajectory.

Stopping power

By use of classical mechanics, Bohr developed an equation of stopping power, -dE/dx, given as the product of a kinematic factor and a stopping number.

The kinematic factor includes such terms as the electronic charge and mass, the number of atoms per cubic centimetre of the medium, and the velocity of the incident charged particle. The stopping number includes the atomic number and the natural logarithm of a term that includes the velocity of the incident particle as well as its charge, a typical transition energy in the system (see Figure 1; a crude estimate is adequate because the quantity appears within the logarithm), and Planck’s constant, h. Bohr’s stopping-power formula does not require knowledge of the details of atomic binding. In terms of the stopping number, B, the full expression for stopping power is given by -dE/dx = (4πZ12e4N/mv2)B, where Z1 is the atomic number of the penetrating particle and N is the atomic density of the medium (in atoms/volume).

For a heavy incident charged particle in the nonrelativistic range (e.g., an alpha particle, a helium nucleus with two positive charges), the stopping number B, according to the German-born American physicist Hans Bethe, is given by quantum mechanics as equal to the atomic number (Z) of the absorbing medium times the natural logarithm (ln) of two times the electronic mass times the velocity squared of the particle, divided by a mean excitation potential (I) of the atom; i.e., B = Z ln (2mv2/I).

Bethe’s stopping number for a heavy particle may be modified by including corrections for particle speed in the relativistic range (β2 + ln [1 - β2]), in which the Greek letter beta, β, represents the velocity of the particle divided by the velocity of light, and polarization screening (i.e., reduction of interaction force by intervening charges, represented by the symbol δ/2), as well as an atomic-shell correction (represented by the ratio of a constant C to the atomic number of the medium); i.e., B = Z (ln 2mv2/I - β2 - ln[1 - β2] - C/Z - δ/2).

The most important nontrivial quantity in the equation for stopping number is the mean excitation potential, I. Experimental values of this parameter, or quantity, are known for most atoms, but no single theory gives it over the whole range of atomic numbers because the calculation would require knowledge of the ground states and all excited states. Statistical models of the atom, however, come close to providing a theory. Calculations by the American physicist Felix Bloch in 1933 showed that the mean excitation potential in electron volts is about 14 times the atomic number of the element through which the charged particle is passing (I = 14Z). A later calculation gives the ratio of the potential to atomic number as equal to a constant (a) plus another constant (b) times the atomic number raised to the -2/3 power in which a = 9.2 and b = 4.5—i.e., I/Z = a + bZ-2/3. This formula is widely applicable. Other exact quantum-mechanical calculations for hydrogen give its mean excitation potential as equal to 15 eV.

Even though the basic stopping-power theory has been developed for atoms, it is readily applied to molecules by virtue of Bragg’s rule (named for the British physicist William H. Bragg), which states that the stopping number of a molecule is the sum of the stopping numbers of all the atoms composing the molecule. For most molecules Bragg’s rule applies impressively within a few percent, though hydrogen (H2) and nitrous oxide (NO) are notable exceptions. The rule implies: (1) similarity of atomic binding in different molecules having one common atom or more, and (2) that the vacuum ultraviolet transitions, in which most electronic transitions are concentrated under such irradiation, involve energy losses much higher than the strengths of most chemical bonds.

The charge on a heavy positive ion fluctuates during penetration of a medium. In the beginning it captures an electron, which it quickly loses. As it slows down, however, the cross section of electron loss decreases relative to that for capture. Basically, the impinging ion undergoes charge-exchange cycles involving a single capture followed by a single loss. Ultimately, an electron is permanently bound when it becomes energetically impossible for the ion to lose it. A second charge-exchange cycle then occurs. This phenomenon continues repeatedly until the velocity of the heavy ion approximates the orbital velocity of the electron in Bohr’s theory of the atom, when the ion spends part of its time as singly charged and another part as a neutral atom. The kinematic factor in the expression for stopping power is proportional to the square of the nuclear charge of the penetrating particle, and it is modified to account for electron capture as the particle slows down. On slowing down further, the electronic energy-loss mechanism becomes ineffective, and energy loss by elastic scattering dominates. The mathematical expressions presented here apply strictly in the high-velocity, electronic excitation domain.


The total path length traversed by a charged particle before it is stopped is called its range. Range is considered to be taken as the sum of the distance traversed over the crooked path (track), whereas the net projection measured along the initial direction of motion is known as the penetration. The difference between range and penetration distances results from scattering encountered by the particle along its path. For heavy charged particles with high initial velocities (those that are appreciable fractions of the speed of light), large-angle scatterings are rare. The corresponding trajectories are straight, and the difference between range and penetration distance is, for most purposes, negligible.

Particle ranges may be obtained by (numerical) integration of a suitable stopping-power formula. Experimentally, range is more easily measured than is stopping power. For heavy particles a critical incident energy in low-atomic-number mediums is 1,000,000 eV divided by the mass of the particle in atomic mass units (amu)—i.e., 1 MeV/amu. For incident energies higher than this critical value, range is usually well-known, and computation agrees with experiment within about 5 percent. In the case of aluminum, which is the best studied material, the accuracy is within about 0.5 percent. For incident energies less than the critical value, however, range calculations are usually uncertain, and agreement with experiment is poor. The range–energy relation is often given adequately as a power law, that range (R) is proportional to energy (E ) raised to some power (n); that is, REn. Protons in the energy interval of a few hundred MeV conform to this kind of relation quite well with the exponent n equal to 1.75. Similar situations exist for other heavy particles. Measurements of range and stopping power are of great importance in particle identification and measurement of their energies. Many experimental data and computations are available for ranges of heavy particles as well as of electrons. The theory by which Bethe derived a stopping number is generally accepted as providing the framework for understanding the variation of range with energy, though in practice the mean excitation potential, I, must be obtained in many cases by experimental curve fitting.

Both stopping power and range should be understood as mean (or average) values over an ensemble of atoms or molecules, because energy loss is a statistical phenomenon. Fluctuations are to be expected. In general, these fluctuations are called straggling, and there are several kinds. Most important among them is the range straggling, which suggests that, for statistical reasons, particles in the same medium have varying path lengths between the same initial and final energies. Bohr showed that for long path lengths the range distribution is approximately Gaussian (a type of relationship between number of occurrences and some other variable). For short path lengths, such as those encountered in penetration of thin films, the emergent particles show a kind of energy straggling called Landau type (for the Soviet physicist Lev Landau). This energy straggling means that the distribution of energy losses is asymmetric when a plot is drawn, with a long tail on the high-energy-loss side. The intermediate case is given by a distribution according to Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, a Soviet physicist, that must be evaluated numerically. There is evidence in support of all three distributions in their respective regions of validity.

The ionization density (number of ions per unit of path length) produced by a fast charged particle along its track increases as the particle slows down. It eventually reaches a maximum called the Bragg peak close to the end of its trajectory. After that, the ionization density dwindles quickly to insignificance. In fact, the ionization density follows closely the LET. With slowing, the LET at first continues to increase because of the strong velocity denominator in the kinematic factor of the stopping-power formula. At low speeds, however, LET goes through a maximum because of: (1) progressive lowering of charge by electron capture, and (2) the effect of the logarithmic term in the stopping-power formula. In general, the maximum occurs at a few times the Bohr orbital velocity. A curve of ionization density (also called specific ionization or number of ion pairs—negative electron and associated positive ion—formed per unit path length) versus distance in a given medium is called a Bragg curve. The Bragg curve includes straggling within a beam of particles; thus, it differs somewhat from the specific ionization curve for an individual particle in that it has a long tail of low ionization density beyond the mean range. The mean range of radium-C′ alpha particles in air at normal temperature and pressure (NTP), for example, is 7.1 centimetres; the Bragg peak occurs at about 6.3 centimetres from the source with a specific ionization of about 60,000 ion pairs per centimetre.


In the first Born approximation, inelastic cross section depends only on velocity and the magnitude of the charge on the incident particle. Hence, an electron and a positron at the same velocity should have identical stopping powers, which should be the same as that of a proton at that velocity. In practice, there is some difference in the case of an electron because of the indistinguishability of the incident and atomic electrons. In describing an ionization caused by an incident electron, the more energetic of the two emergent electrons is called, by convention, the primary. Thus, maximum energy loss (ignoring atomic binding) is half the incident energy. Incorporating this effect, the stopping number of an electron is given by a complicated expression that involves a different arrangement of the parameters found in the stopping number of heavy charged particles; i.e.,

This stopping-power formula has a wide range of validity, from approximately a few hundred electron volts to a few million electron volts in materials of low atomic number. For low velocities, the Born approximation gradually breaks down, and highly excited states begin to be inaccessible to transitions by virtue of small maximum energy transfer. Yet, with some corrections the electron-stopping-power formula may be extended down to about 50 eV. Below that value any stopping-power formula is of doubtful validity, even though it is certain that most of the energy is still being lost to electronic states down to a few eV of energy.

On the high-velocity side, relativistic effects increase electron-stopping power from about 1,000,000 eV upward. Except for the term δ attributable to polarization screening, the relativistic stopping power tends to infinity as the electron velocity approaches the speed of light (v/c = β → 1). One-half of the stopping power, called the restricted stopping power, is numerically equal to the linear energy transfer and changes smoothly to a constant value, called the Fermi plateau, as the ratio β approaches unity. The other half, called the unrestricted stopping power, increases without limit, but its effect at extreme relativistic velocities (those very near the speed of light) becomes small compared with energy loss by nuclear encounters.

At extremely high velocities an electron loses a substantial part of its energy by radiative nuclear encounter. Lost energy is carried by energetic X rays (i.e., bremsstrahlung). The ratio of energy loss by nuclear radiative encounter to collisional energy loss (excitation and ionization) is given approximately by the incident electron energy (E) in units of 1,000,000 eV times atomic number (Z) divided by 800; i.e., EZ/800. For a large class of mediums (atomic number equal to or greater than 8; i.e., that for oxygen), the electron stopping is dominated by bremsstrahlung radiation for energies greater than 100 MeV.

Cherenkov radiation

When the speed of a charged particle in a transparent medium (air, water, plastics) is so high that it is greater than the group velocity of light in that medium, then a part of the energy is emitted as Cherenkov radiation, first observed in 1934 by Pavel A. Cherenkov, a Soviet physicist. Such radiation rarely accounts for more than a few percent of the total energy loss. Even so, it is invaluable for purposes of monitoring and spectroscopy. Cherenkov radiation is spread over the entire visible region and into the near ultraviolet and near infrared. The direction of its propagation is confined within a cone, the axis of which is the direction of electron motion.

Energy-transfer mechanism

At the low-velocity end of its path, an electron continues to excite electronic levels of atoms or molecules until its kinetic energy falls below the lowest (electronically) excited state (see Figure 1). After that it loses energy mainly by exciting vibrations in a molecule. Such a mechanism proceeds through the intermediary of temporary negative ion states, for direct momentum-transfer collisions are very inefficient. In a condensed medium (liquid, solid, or glass) very low-energy (less than 1 eV) electrons continue to lose energy by a process called phonon emission and by interaction with other low-frequency intermolecular motions of the medium.

An electron and a singly charged heavy particle with the same velocity have about equal stopping powers. Because of the small mass of the electron, however, the relative retardation (decrease in velocity per unit path length) is much more for it. This larger retardation for an electron means that, if an electron and a heavy particle start with the same velocity, the electron will have a much smaller range. Electron tracks show much more straggling and scattering compared with that of a heavy particle. The first effect results from the fact that the electron can lose a large fraction of its energy in a single encounter; the second is the result of small mass. A power law may be used to connect range and energy of electrons in a given medium—i.e., the range is proportional to energy raised to a power n; as in the case of a heavy particle, the index n is slightly less than two at high energies. At low energies the relationship is such that the exponent is one or less. Many formulas and tables are available for stopping powers and for ranges of electrons as well as of heavy particles over a wide range of energies.



Neutron beams may be produced in a variety of ways. A modern method is to extract a high-intensity beam from a nuclear reactor. A simpler but expensive device is one that employs a mixture of radium and beryllium. The reaction of the alpha (α) particles emitted by the radium with beryllium nuclei produces a copious output of neutrons. The neutron is a major nuclear constituent and is responsible for nuclear binding. A free neutron interacts with nuclei in a variety of ways, depending on its velocity and the nature of the target. Ordinary interactions include scattering (elastic and inelastic), absorption, and capture by nuclei to produce new elements. Unlike the electron, a neutron loses energy significantly through elastic collisions, because its mass is comparable to masses of atoms of low atomic number. (According to the laws of mechanics, in elastic collision, on the average, an object loses half its energy to another object of equal mass.)

The average fraction of energy transferred from a neutron per collision, symbolized by (Δ E/E)av, is twice the atomic mass number (A) of the struck atom divided by the square of the mass number plus one; i.e.,

Thus, only 18, 25, 42, 90, and 114 collisions are required to thermalize (reduce the energy of motion to that of the surrounding atoms) a fast neutron in hydrogen, deuterium, helium, beryllium, and carbon, respectively.

Pure absorption does not result in a new element, even though it is sometimes accompanied by emission of gamma rays. In certain cases of capture, radioactivity follows, often with production of beta (β) particles. In another class of interaction, a heavy charged particle is ejected (such as an α-particle or proton); the resultant nucleus is often but not always radioactive. As an example, the reaction of neutrons on boron to produce alpha particles provides the basis for alpha-particle welding. The principle of such welding, invented by the Soviet chemist V.I. Goldansky, is to deposit a thin layer of a boron (or lithium) compound in the interface between diverse materials, which is thereafter irradiated with neutrons. The high-energy α-particles produced from the nuclear reaction weld the materials together.

Extraordinary interactions of the neutron are represented by diffraction, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion. Diffraction, exhibited by low-energy neutrons (approximately equal to or less than 0.05 eV), demonstrates their wave nature and is consistent with de Broglie’s hypothesis of the wave character of matter. Neutron diffraction complements X-ray technique in locating the positions of atoms in molecules and crystals, especially atoms of low atomic number such as hydrogen. Fission is the breakup of a heavy nucleus (either spontaneously or under the impact, for example, of a neutron) into two smaller ones with liberation of energy and neutrons. Spontaneous-fission rates and cross sections of fission induced by agencies other than the neutron are so small that in most applications only neutron-induced fission is important. Also, the neutron-induced-fission cross section depends on the particular isotope (species of an element with the same atomic number and similar chemical behaviour but different atomic mass) involved and the neutron energy. The fission process itself generates fast neutrons, which, when suitably slowed down by elastic scattering (a process called moderation), are again ready to induce more fission. The ratio of neutrons produced to neutrons absorbed is called the reproduction factor. When that factor exceeds unity, a chain reaction may be started, which is the basis of nuclear-power reactors and other fission devices. The chain is terminated by a combination of adventitious absorption, leakage, and other reactions that do not regenerate a neutron. At the power level at which a reactor operates, the loss rate always balances the generation rate through fission. The Hungarian-born American physicist Eugene P. Wigner, in the course of consideration of the possible effects of fast neutrons, suggested in 1942 that the process of energy transfer by collision from neutron to atom might result in important physical and chemical changes. The phenomenon, known as the Wigner effect and sometimes as a “knock on” process, was actually discovered in 1943 by the American chemists Milton Burton and T.J. Neubert and found to have profound influences on graphite and other materials.

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