Modeling the effects of variations and absorption on the transition radiation produced from a stack of foils

Abstract

Modeling transition radiation is a method to simulate the radiation produced by a relativistic charged particle passing through a stack of foils when variables such as foil thickness, interfoil spacing, number of cells, beam energy, and absorption change from an idealized case. The results of the modeling show how rapidly the radiation intensity produced by a relativistic charged particle in the foil stack decreases as randomness in foil thickness and spacing increase and can be used to establish practical tolerances for stack design. Including the effect of photon absorption by the foils will give a realistic radiation intensity for a particular material. The choice of foil material will determine the level of energy below which the photon energy is strongly absorbed. Modeling the effect of absorption in certain foil materials also indicates the x ray absorption K edge can be used to isolate particular energies and angles of photon emission.