Bremsstrahlung Radiation of Fast Electrons in Long Air Gaps

The results of an experiment on discharges in long atmospheric pressure air gaps at a pulsed voltage of amplitude up to 800 kV and risetime 150-200 ns are analyzed. In the experiment, a radiation pulse of photon energy 〉 5 keV and duration 10-20 ns has been detected. It has been shown that the x-ray pulse is due to the ＂runaway＂ of electrons from the head of an anode-directed streamer. The estimated maximum bremsstrahlung energy is about 5-10 keV. The presence of a maximum in the bremsstrahlung spectrum is due to that the photons emitted by electrons are absorbed by atoms of the gas in which the discharge operates.

Effect of sheath potential on electromagnetic radiation emitted from the rear surface of a metallic foil target

In ultra-intense laser-matter interactions, intense electric fields formed at the rear surface of a foil target may have strong influences on the motion of energetic electrons, and thereby affect the electromagnetic emissions from the rear surface, usually ascribed to transition radiation. Due to the electric fields, transition radiation occurs twice and bremsstrahlung radiation also happens because the electrons will cross the rear surface twice and have large accelerations. In the optic region, transition radiation is dominant. The radiation spectrum depends on the electric field only when the electrons are monochromatic, and becomes independent of the electric field when the electrons have a broadband momentum distribution. Therefore, in an actual experiment, the electric field at the rear surface of a foil could not be studied just with the measurement of optic emissions. In the terahertz region, both bremsstrahlung and transition radiations should be taken into account, and the radiation power could be enhanced in comparison with that without the inclusion of bremsstrahlung radiation. The frequency at which the maximum terahertz radiation appears depends on the electric field.