A SPECTROMETER FOR COMPTON-SCATTERING STUDIES OF HEAVY-ELEMENTS AND THE PROBLEM OF BREMSSTRAHLUNG BACKGROUND

A high energy Compton spectrometer which operates at either 662 keV or 412 keV with the gamma-ray sources Au-198 and Cs-137, respectively, has been designed and built. Measurements conducted on Al, Cu and Ag samples indicate the usefulness of this spectrometer for studies of electron momentum distributions. Systematic discrepancies observed between the experimental and theoretical Compton profiles of silver are thought to originate from a background of bremsstrahlung radiation, associated with the Compton recoil electrons and photoelectrons, which is not significant in studies of lighter elements or with lower energy sources. The problem caused by the presence of the additional background in the scattering of high energy radiation from heavy elements is discussed