Experimental and simulation investigations of the peculiarities of relativistic electron beam scattering at a small angle of incidence on a thin flat target

Abstract

The refraction angles θ_d of electron beams passing through aluminum and thin flat copper foils and reflection angles θ_r are measured. A microtron with 7.4 MeV particles is used as a source of electrons. The angle between the particle trajectory and the target surface α is varied in the range 5°–30°. The dependences of the refraction and reflection angles on the α angle and foil thickness δ are measured. A dosimetric film is used to make pictures of cross sections of the electron beam scattered by a thin 50 μm copper foil. Image processing allows the spatial distributions of refracted and reflected particles to be obtained. The processes of relativistic electron scattering at a small angle of incidence on a flat target are simulated by the Monte Carlo method. The results of simulation are compared with experimental data. Particle scattering at a bimetallic target consisting of 200-μm aluminum and 70-μm lead layers are simulated. A dependence of the spatial-energy distributions on the order of metal layers placed along electron trajectories is found.