What is the wavelength of X-rays?
34151#31
X-rays range in wavelength from 10 to 0.01 nanometers; a typical wavelength used for crystallography is 1 Å (0.1 nm), which is on the scale of covalent chemical bonds and the radius of a single atom. Longer-wavelength photons (such as ultraviolet radiation) would not have sufficient resolution to determine the atomic positions. At the other extreme, shorter-wavelength photons such as gamma rays are difficult to produce in large numbers, difficult to focus, and interact too strongly with matter, producing particle-antiparticle pairs. Therefore, X-rays are the "sweetspot" for wavelength when determining atomic-resolution structures from the scattering of electromagnetic radiation.
X-ray crystallography
34197#32
X-rays with high photon energies (above 5–10 keV, below 0.2–0.1 nm wavelength) are called "hard X-rays", while those with lower energy (and longer wavelength) are called "soft X-rays". Due to their penetrating ability, hard X-rays are widely used to image the inside of objects, e.g., in medical radiography and airport security. The term "X-ray" is metonymically used to refer to a radiographic image produced using this method, in addition to the method itself. Since the wavelengths of hard X-rays are similar to the size of atoms, they are also useful for determining crystal structures by X-ray crystallography. By contrast, soft X-rays are easily absorbed in air; the attenuation length of 600 eV (~2 nm) X-rays in water is less than 1 micrometer.
X-ray
34197#0
X-rays make up X-radiation, a form of electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz (3×10 Hz to 3×10 Hz) and energies in the range 100 eV to 100 keV. X-ray wavelengths are shorter than those of UV rays and typically longer than those of gamma rays. In many languages, X-radiation is referred to with terms meaning Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen who discovered these on November 8, 1895, who usually is credited as its discoverer, and who named it "X-radiation" to signify an unknown type of radiation. Spelling of "X-ray(s)" in the English language includes the variants "x-ray(s)", "xray(s)", and "X ray(s)".
X-ray
682635#0
Wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDXS or WDS) is a method used to count the number of X-rays of a specific wavelength diffracted by a crystal. The wavelength of the impinging X-ray and the crystal's lattice spacings are related by Bragg's law and produce constructive interference if they fit the criteria of Bragg's law. Unlike the related technique of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), WDS reads or counts only the X-rays of a single wavelength at a time, not producing a broad spectrum of wavelengths or energies simultaneously. WDS is primarily used in chemical analysis, in an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, in an electron microprobe, and may also be used in a scanning electron microscope.
Wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
25101083#5
The distinction between X-rays and gamma rays has changed in recent decades. Originally, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by X-ray tubes had a longer wavelength than the radiation emitted by radioactive nuclei (gamma rays). So older literature distinguished between X- and gamma radiation on the basis of wavelength, with radiation shorter than some arbitrary wavelength, such as 10 m, defined as gamma rays. However, as shorter wavelength continuous spectrum "X-ray" sources such as linear accelerators and longer wavelength "gamma ray" emitters were discovered, the wavelength bands largely overlapped. The two types of radiation are now usually distinguished by their origin: X-rays are emitted by electrons outside the nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus.
X-ray astronomy detector
25100839#12
Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) is a method used to count the number of X-rays of a specific wavelength diffracted by a crystal. WDS only counts X-rays of a single wavelength or wavelength band. In order to interpret the data, the expected elemental wavelength peak locations need to be known. For the ESRO-2B WDS X-ray instruments, calculations of the expected solar spectrum had to be performed and were compared to peaks detected by rocket measurements.
X-ray astronomy satellite
1633075#7
The characteristic X-rays are used for chemical analysis. Specific X-ray wavelengths or energies are selected and counted, either by wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) or energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). WDS utilizes Bragg diffraction from crystals to select X-ray wavelengths of interest and direct them to gas-flow or sealed proportional detectors. In contrast, EDS uses a solid state semiconductor detector to accumulate X-rays of all wavelengths produced from the sample. While EDS yields more information and typically requires a much shorter counting time, WDS is generally a more precise technique with lower limits of detection because its superior X-ray peak resolution and greater peak to background ratio.
Electron microprobe
1063456#1
When an electron from the inner shell of an atom is excited by the energy of a photon, it moves to a higher energy level. When it returns to the low energy level, the energy which it previously gained by the excitation is emitted as a photon which has a wavelength that is characteristic for the element (there could be several characteristic wavelengths per element). Analysis of the X-ray emission spectrum produces qualitative results about the elemental composition of the specimen. Comparison of the specimen's spectrum with the spectra of samples of known composition produces quantitative results (after some mathematical corrections for absorption, fluorescence and atomic number). Atoms can be excited by a high-energy beam of charged particles such as electrons (in an electron microscope for example), protons (see PIXE) or a beam of X-rays (see X-ray fluorescence, or XRF or also recently in transmission XRT). These methods enable elements from the entire periodic table to be analysed, with the exception of H, He and Li.
In electron microscopy an electron beam excites X-rays; there are two main techniques for analysis of spectra of characteristic X-ray radiation: energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS). In X-Ray Transmission (XRT), the equivalent atomic composition (Zeff) is captured based on photo electric and Compton effects.
X-ray spectroscopy
2296159#32
Laboratory X-ray diffraction equipment relies on the use of an X-ray tube, which is used to produce the X-rays. The most commonly used laboratory X-ray tube uses a copper anode, but cobalt and molybdenum are also popular. The wavelength in nm varies for each source. The table below shows these wavelengths, determined by Bearden and quoted in the International Tables for X-ray Crystallography (all values in nm):
According to the last re-examination of Holzer et al. (1997), these values are respectively:
Powder diffraction
44062#35
From the observed X-ray spectrum, combined with spectral emission results for other wavelength ranges, an astronomical model addressing the likely source of X-ray emission can be constructed. For example, with Scorpius X-1 the X-ray spectrum steeply drops off as X-ray energy increases up to 20 keV, which is likely for a thermal-plasma mechanism. In addition, there is no radio emission, and the visible continuum is roughly what would be expected from a hot plasma fitting the observed X-ray flux. The plasma could be a coronal cloud of a central object or a transient plasma, where the energy source is unknown, but could be related to the idea of a close binary.
X-ray astronomy