Evaluation of a Scattered Radiation Field in a Cluster Relevant for Multiple-Energy X-Ray Holography

Abstract

We analyze theoretically multiple-energy X-ray holography (MEXH), a new tool for material structure determination, already tested experimentally, which utilizes synchrotron radiation to generate an electromagnetic scattering field at a specific target atom inside a material sample. In MEXH the target atom is considered as a detector, which indicates the electric field strength at its core via the measurement of the total intensity of fluorescence that the atom emits in all directions. The modulations of the intensity, upon varying the direction and the energy of the incident synchrotron radiation, are registered as a hologram which offers then the image of the environment surrounding the target atom. The purpose of this work is to determine theoretically the relevant physical quantity of the process, i.e. the electromagnetic field, at the target atom position. For this purpose we use methods of quantum electrodynamics (QED). We obtain formulas which are interpreted in terms of a holographic description of the process which can then have a direct experimental application through the MEXH method.