Polarisation in secondary Röntgen radiation

Abstract

In a paper on “Polarised Röntgen Radiation,” the writer gave an account of experiments which demonstrated the partial polarisation of a beam of X-rays proceeding from the antikathode of an X-ray focus-tube, and verified the theory previously given of the production of secondary X-rays in light substances. In that paper it was shown that the secondary radiation proceeding in a direction perpendicular to that of propagation of the primary radiation from certain substances placed in that primary beam should, according to the theory put forward, be plane polarised. From gases, however, the secondary radiation was not sufficiently intense to produce a tertiary of measurable intensity, and thus the polarisation of the secondary from them was not verifiable. On the other hand, though heavy metals were found to emit secondary radiation of sufficient intensity and ionising power to produce appreciable tertiary effects, in these metals the production of secondary radiation is a more complex phenomenon, and evidence of polarisation of the secondary beam is not to be expected from experiments upon them.