[Low energy tail spectra of characteristic X-rays detected by a Si(Li) X-ray detector].

Characteristic X-ray spectra are inherently accompanied by the tail spectra in the low energy side when X-rays are detected with a semiconductor X-ray detector. The tail spectra of Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Cr and Mn KX-rays have been observed using two different Si(Li) X-ray detectors. An annular source of 55Fe has been used to excite the Mg (1.25 keV) to Ti (4.5 keV) KX-rays, and 54Mn and 55Fe sources have been used for the detection of Cr (5.4 keV) and Mn (5.9 keV) KX-rays, respectively. Observed intensity ratios of the tail area Nt to the Gaussian X-ray peak area NP have exhibited to change remarkably at the Si-K adsorption edge energy 1.84 ke V. When X-ray spectra detected with different Si(Li) detectors are compared at some specific characteristic X-ray, different values of Nt/Np intensity ratios as well as different line shapes of tail spectra have been observed. Using a simple model, the thickness of Si layer which generates the tail spectrum has been estimated, i.e., the thicknesses are about 0.05 micron for one detector and 0.09 micron for the other detector. The generation of the tail spectrum is known to be partially due to the escape effect of photoelectrons or Auger electrons from the intrinsic region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Dependence of scattered Mn K alpha / K beta X-ray intensity ratio on the scatterer materials].

The K alpha / K beta ratio of Mn KX-rays scattered by metallic samples changed remarkably with the geometry between the sample and the (55)Fe source-Si(Li) detector system. On the contrary, this intensity ratio changed little in the cases of non-metallic scatterer samples such as lucite or mylar. This difference is interpreted as due to the occurrence of strong or weak interference in the coherent scattering photons.

[Contribution of 210Bi beta-ray induced bremsstrahlung to the emission of Pb-KX-rays observed in the lead shielded gamma-ray background spectrum (author's transl)].

Observation of gamma-ray background has been done by using a Ge(Li) semiconductor detector when it was placed inside the lead shielding material. With the aid of a very simple model calculation, the concentration of 210Pb radioisotope embedded in the lead material has been estimated to be 0.1-0.4 (Bq/Pb-g) (3-12 (pCi/Pb-g). The origin of Pb-KX-ray emission, the highest peak in the background spectrum, has been investigated by comparing the 210Pb-47 keV gamma-ray and Pb-KX-ray peak counts. As the results, about 50 +/- 30% of Pb-KX-ray production is estimated to be due to the Pb-K shell photoionization which is induced by the bremsstrahlung of 210Bi beta-ray.