Application of the Compton Effect to Solve Problems of Condensed Matter Physics

Abstract

The prospects for the application of X-ray spectral methods and scattering phenomena as a basis for chemical and phase analysis in new areas are considered. It is theoretically shown that the sensitivity of the scattering method does not depend on the structure and quality of the sample surface and increases sharply with a decrease in the atomic number of the analyzed impurity. The sensitivity of the method is analyzed in the study of multicomponent standards of stoichiometric composition based on H, Li, B, C, O and F, and compared with the sensitivity of traditional analytical methods. The concentration sensitivity of detecting the content of light impurities in metals is calculated and experimental confirmation is given for titanium-hydrogen and iron-carbon systems. For the first time, the Compton method is generalized for the analysis of multicomponent systems of unknown composition. To do this, using the Duvauchelle approach, the concept of the effective atomic number by the scattering property is introduced. It is shown that the dependence of the effective atomic number on the parameter x, which reflects the measurement conditions (scattering angle and primary radiation wavelength), uniquely determines a multicomponent compound. Based on the sensitivity analysis, the range of application of the scattering method is substantiated. From the side of small values of the parameter x, the method is limited due to Bragg reflections superimposed on the Rayleigh peak. For large values of the parameter x, the sensitivity of the method decreases due to the large discrepancy between the intensities of coherent and incoherent scattering. The examples of solving analytical problems are given, in which the use of X-ray fluorescence and diffraction analysis is either very difficult or impossible at all.