2nd Semester,

MSc (Radiological Physics), 2021

RP2.1 : Radiation Physics:

Interaction of Radiation with Matter
Lesson-3

Kalyanee Boruah
13 July, 2021
 Syllabus
Interaction of charged particles with matter :

Classical theory of inelastic collision with atomic
electrons.

Energy loss per ion pair by primary and
secondary ionization-

Dependence of collision energy losses on the
physical and chemical state of the absorber-

Cerenkov radiation-

Electron absorption process- Scattering
excitation and ionization-

Radiative collision- Bremmstrahlung-
Passage of Charged Particles through Matter

There is a fundamental difference between the

interaction of charged particle beams and photon
beams with matter. Whenever a photon interacts with
material, it is either absorbed or scattered and
consequently removed from the beam.
When a charged particle interacts with matter it does
not get removed from the beam, but the energy of the
particles reduce as they pass through the medium.
The rate at which a charged particle loses energy as
it passes through a material depends on the nature of
both the incident and the target particles.
The stopping power of the material is defined as the
energy that a charged particle loses per unit length of
the material it traverses.
Any charged particle can have either electronic, or
nuclear, (neglecting gravitational) interaction with
the particles of the material through which it
passes. The total stopping power is then,

(1)

Here the negative sign signifies the fact that the

particles lose energy as they pass through the
material. For most practical purposes the nuclear
component of the stopping power can also be
ignored as it is generally only a fraction of the
total stopping power.
(2)
 Classical theory of inelastic collision
A relation for the energy loss experienced by an ion moving
in the electromagnetic field of an electron was first given by
Neil Bohr by simply considering the impulses delivered by
the ion to the electron as it passes through its
electromagnetic field.
Let us consider a heavy particle with a charge ze, mass M
and velocity v passing through some material medium and
suppose that there is an atomic electron at some distance
b from the particle trajectory. We assume that the electron
is free and initially at rest, and furthermore, that it only
moves very slightly during the interaction with the heavy
particle so that the electric field acting on the electron may
be taken at its initial position. Moreover, after the collision,
we assume the incident particle to be essentially
undeviated from its original path because of its much larger
mass (M>> me).
Fig.. Collision of a heavy charged particle with an atomic electron
The momentum impulse it receives from colliding
with the heavy particle is,
(3)
where only the component of the electric field E 
perpendicular to the particle trajectory enters because
of symmetry. To calculate the integral ∫Edx, we use
Gauss' Law over an infinitely long cylinder centered on
the particle trajectory and passing through the position
of the electron. Then,
(4)
So that,
(5)
Now, the energy gained by the electron is,

(6)

If Ne be the density of electrons, then the energy lost to

all the electrons located at a distance between b and
b+db in a thickness dx is,
(7)
where the volume element dV=2.b.db.dx. To get the
total energy loss, equation (7) is to be integrated from
a minimum to a maximum value of b. Thus,

(8)
Classically, the maximum energy transferable is in a head-
on collision corresponding to bmin. It can be shown that,

(9)

The electrons are not free but bound to atoms with some
orbital frequency . In order for the electron to absorb
energy, then, the perturbation caused by the passing
particle must take place in a time short compared to the
period  = 1/ of the bound electron, hence,
(10)
Since there are several bound electron states with different
frequencies , we must average over all the bound states.
Hence,
(11)
Substituting in eq.(8), we get,

(12)

This is essentially Bohr's classical formula. It gives a

reasonable description of the energy loss for very
heavy particles such as the -particle or heavier nuclei.
However, for lighter particles, e.g. the proton, the
formula breaks down because of quantum effects.
 The Bethe-Bloch Formula
The correct quantum-mechanical calculation was first
performed by Bethe, Bloch and other authors. In the
calculation the energy transfer is parametrized in terms
of momentum transfer rather than the impact
parameter. This, of course, is more realistic since the
momentum transfer is a measurable quantity whereas
the impact parameter is not. The formula obtained is,

(13)

Equation (13) is commonly known as the Bethe-Bloch

formula. In practice, however, two corrections are
normally added: the density effect correction , and the
shell correction C.
 (14)

Where,
The Shell and Density Corrections.
The quantities  and C are corrections to the Bethe-Bloch
formula (14) which are important at high and low energies
respectively. The density effect arises from the fact that the
electric field of the particle also tends to polarize the atoms
along its path. Because of this polarization, electrons far from
the path of the particle will be shielded from the full electric
field intensity. Collisions with these outer lying electrons will
therefore contribute less to the total energy loss than
predicted by the Bethe-Bloch formula. This effect becomes
more important as the particle energy increases. As the
velocity increases, the radius of the cylinder over which the
integration is performed also increases, so that distant
collisions contribute more and more to the total energy loss.
This effect also depends on the density of the material (hence
the term "density" effect), since the induced polarization will
be greater in condensed materials than in lighter substances
such as gases.
A comparison of the Bethe-Bloch formula with and without corrections
Stopping power dE/dx as function of energy for different particles
 Bragg Curve
As a heavy particle slows down in matter, its rate of
energy loss will change as its kinetic energy changes.
And indeed, more energy per unit length will be
deposited towards the end of its path rather than at its
beginning. The variation of the amount of ionization
created by a heavy particle as a function of its position
along it slowing-down path is known as a Bragg curve.
It is seen that, most of the energy is deposited near the
end of the trajectory. At the very end, however, it
begins to pick up electrons and the dE/dx drops. This
behavior is particularly used in medical applications of
radiation where it is desired to deliver a high dose of
radiation to deeply embedded malignant growths with
a minimum of destruction to the overlaying tissue.
 A typical Bragg curve showing the variation of dE/dx as a function
of the penetration depth of the particle in matter. The particle is more
ionizing towards the end of its path.