SMuK 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 74: Poster

HK 74.1: Poster

Donnerstag, 23. März 2023, 17:30–19:00, HSZ EG

Mimicking an Fe55 Source with X-Ray Fluorescence — •Philip Hauer, Alexander Rachev, and Bernhard Ketzer — Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Universität Bonn

With its low-energetic and well-known X-ray spectrum, Fe55 is a commonly used radioactive source to calibrate particle detectors. The X-ray spectrum does not originate from the radioactive decay directly. Instead, Fe55 decays via electron capture into the excited state Mn55*. This excited state lacks one electron (typically from the K-shell) which is filled by an electron from an outer shell (typically the L- or M-shell) and an X-ray photon is emitted.

This process can be mimicked by X-ray fluorescence. If pure manganese (which consists to 100% of the isotope Mn55) is irradiated with X-rays, the excited state Mn55* is created as well (if the energy of the X-rays exceed the binding energy of the K-shell). In the relaxation process, the same spectrum as the one of an Fe55 source is emitted.

In order to confirm these considerations with measurements, we set up an X-ray tube which irradiated a piece of manganese. Two different detectors were used to analyse the emitted spectra. The first one is a semiconductor detector and the second one is a gaseous detector. With the performed measurements, we could show that a clean Fe55 spectrum can be observed with the X-ray fluorescence method.

On this poster, the measurements of X-ray fluorescence at manganese compared to Fe55 spectra are shown. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of this method are discussed.

Supported by BMBF.