Determination of the K shell oscillator strengths and the imaginary form factors of atoms using a weak beta source

Abstract

The K shell oscillator strengths and the imaginary form factors of Gd, Hf and Ta atoms have been determined using a novel method. In this method, bremsstrahlung photons produced by beta particles from a weak beta source of 90Sr–90Y in a nickel foil are incident on an elemental target and the transmitted spectrum of photons emerging from the target is measured using an ORTEC make HPGe detector coupled to 8 K multichannel analyser. The recorded spectrum shows a sudden drop at the K shell binding energy of the target atom and an exponential decrease in the intensity above the K shell binding energy. These portions have been used to determine the K shell binding energy, photoelectric cross-section at the K edge, the K shell oscillator strength and the imaginary form factor of the elements Gd, Hf and Ta. Good agreement between the experimental and the theoretical values is observed.