Interaction of Photon With Matter

Photon Interaction with Matter
Photon Interaction with Matter
• Electromagnetic Radiation interacts with

structures with similar size to the
wavelength of the radiation.
• Interactions have wavelike and particle like
properties.
• Photons (X-rays) have a very small
wavelength, no larger than 10-8 to 10-9.
X-ray Interaction with Matter
• The higher the energy of the x-ray, the
shorter the wavelength.
• Low energy x-rays interact with whole
atoms.
• Moderate energy x-rays interact with
electrons.
• High energy x-rays interact with the nuclei.
Four forms of Photon Interactions
• Classical or Coherent Scattering
• Compton Effect
• Photoelectric Effect
• Pair production
Two Forms of X-ray
Interactions Important
to Diagnostic X-ray
• Scattering- Compton Effect
• Absorption- Photoelectric Effect
Classical or Coherent Scattering
• Low energy x-rays of
about 10 keV interact
in this manner.
• Incident photon
interacts with the
atom.
• There is a change in
direction.
• There is no loss of
energy and no
ionization.
• Photon scattered
forward.
• Because these are
low energy x-rays,
they are of little
importance.
• At 70 kVp only a few
percent of the x-rays
undergo this form of
scattering.
• Classic Scatter may
contribute to the
graying of the image
called film fog.
Compton Effect
• Moderate energy x-
ray photon through
out the diagnostic x-
ray range can interact scattered
g-quant
with outer shell incoming
electron. g-quant
• This interaction not

only changes the Compton
direction but electron
Compton Effect
• reduced its energy
and ionizes the atom
as well. The outer
shell electron is
ejected. This is called
Compton Effect or
Compton Scattering.
Compton Scattering
Compton Scattering
Compton Scattering
• The scattered photon (hʋ’)
and secondary electron will
retain most of its energy so
it can interact many times
before it losing all of it’s
energy.
For maximum energy transfer to an electron,
the Compton shift in wavelength is,
Where me= electron mass 9.1 × 10-31 Kg

h= Plank’ constant6.626 × 10-34 J.s
c= speed of light 3ꓫ 108 m/s
Compton Effect
• The scattered photon will ultimately be
absorbed photoelectrically.
• The secondary electron will drop into a
hole in the outer shell of an atom created
by an ionizing event.
• Compton-scattered photons can be
deflected in any direction.
Compton Effect
• A zero angle deflection will result in no
energy loss.
• As the angle approaches 180 degrees,
more energy is transferred to the
secondary electron.
• Even at 180 degrees, 66% of the energy is
retained.
Compton Effect
• Photons scattered back towards the
incident x-ray beam are called Backscatter
Radiation.
• While important in radiation therapy,
backscatter in diagnostic x-ray is
sometimes responsible for the hinges on
the back of the the cassette to be seen on
the x-ray film
Compton Effect
• The probability of
Compton Effect is about
the same for soft tissue
or bone.
• This decreases with
increasing photon
energies.
• Compton scatter
decreases with
increased kVp.
Example-1
• Compton Scattering An incident 71-pm X-ray is incident on a calcite target.
Find the wavelength of the X-ray scattered at a 30° angle. What is the largest
shift that can be expected in this experiment?
• Solution; To find the wavelength of the scattered X-ray, first we must find the
Compton shift for the given scattering angle, θ=30°.
• The largest Compton shift occurs at the angle when 1−cosθ has the largest
value, which is for the angle θ=180°.
λc=h/moc=0.00243nm=2.43pm
•
• The shift at θ=30° is

Δλ=λc(1−cos30°)=0.134 λc=(0.134)(2.43)pm=0.325pm
• The largest shift is;
(Δλ)max=λc(1−cos1800)=2(2.43pm)=4.86pm
Photoelectric Effect
• X-rays in the
diagnostic range can
undergo ionizing
interactions with
inner shell electron
of the target atom.
• It is not scattered but
totally absorbed.
• The Photoelectric Effect is a

photon absorption interaction.
• The electron removed from the target atoms is called a
photoelectron.
• The photoelectron escapes with kinetic energy equal to
the difference between the energy of the incident x-ray
and the binding energy of the electron.
• KEmax = hf – Ø
• Ø = hfth = hC/λth work function (threshold energy): amount of
energy binding the electron to the metal
Frequency is equal to speed of light over wave length;
f= C/ λ,
• E=hf energy of the incident photon
h = planks constant (6.626 × 10-34 J.s)
f = frequency of photon in Hz
• Low an atomic number target atoms such
as soft tissue have low binding energies.
• Therefore the photoelectric electron is
released with kinetic energy nearly equal
to the incident photon.
• Higher atomic number target atoms will
have higher binding energies.
• The probability of a photoelectric
interaction is a function of the photon
energy and the atomic number of the
target atom.
• A photoelectric interaction can not
occur unless the photon has energy
equal to or greater than the electron
binding energy.
• The probability of photoelectric interaction
is inversely proportional to the third power
of the photon energy.
• The probability of photoelectric interaction
is directly proportional to the third power of
the atomic number of the absorbing
material
Effective Atomic Numbers
• Human Tissue • Effective Atomic #
– Muscle – 7.4
– Fat – 6.3
– Bone – 13.8
– Lung – 7.4
• Other Material
– Air – 7.6
– Concrete – 17
– Lead – 82
• A probability of interaction to the third
power changes rapidly.
• For the photoelectric effect this means that
a small variation in atomic number or
photon energy results in a large changes
in chance of an interaction.
• This is unlike Compton interactions.
Example- 2
Pair Production
• If the incident photon
has sufficient energy,
it may escape the
electron cloud and
come close enough to
the nucleus to come
under the influence of
the strong
electrostatic field of
the nucleus.
Pair Production
• The interaction with
the nucleus strong
electrostatic field
causes the photon to
disappear and in its
place appear two
electrons.
Pair Production
• One is positively charged and called a positron
while the other remains negatively charged.
This is called Pair Production.
• It take a photon with 1.02 MeV to undergo Pair
Production.
Therefore it is not important to diagnostic x-ray.
Example-3
• A photon of energy 4.1 MeV is incident on a lead
nucleus, causing the creation of electron-positron
pair. They travel perpendicular to the initial direction
of the photon. What is the energy of the electron?
• Sol;
• Explanation: We Know, in pair production momentum and
energy is conserved.
By conserving energy, Etotal = Ee + EP 4.1 MeV = Ee + EP
Now, by conserving momentum in y-direction we get
Pe – PP = 0  Pe = PP
Hence, if momentum is same the energy should be same
Therefore, 4.1 MeV = 2Ee
Ee = 2.05 MeV.

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Photon Interaction with Matter

Photon Interaction with Matter

• Electromagnetic Radiation interacts with

• This interaction not

Where me= electron mass 9.1 × 10-31 Kg

• The shift at θ=30° is

• The Photoelectric Effect is a

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