QUANTUM PHYSICS
COMPTON EFFECT
Compton effect
The Compton effect is the change in
wavelength of high energy
electromagnetic radiation when it scatters
off electrons. The discovery of the Compton
effect confirmed that electromagnetic
radiation has both wave and particle
properties, a central principle of quantum
theory.
3
Scattered photon,
E’=hc/l’, p’=h/l’
Initial photon, Initial electron, at y
E=hc/l, rest, Eei=mec2,
p=h/l pei=0
q x
1: Conservation of E:
f
Scattered electron,
hc/l + mec2 = hc/l’ + Ee Ee,pe
2: Conservation of momentum:p = p’ + pe
(vector sum)
4
Compton Scattering
• When light encounters charged particles,
the particles will interact with the light and
cause some of the light to be scattered.
incident
photon scattered
light wave electron photon
electron motion of
electron
after hit
motion of electron
Compton Scattering
• Compton scattering is the scattering of light
(photons) from free electrons
6
Compton Scattering
From the wave theory, we can understand
that charged particles would interact with the
light since the light is an electromagnetic
wave!
Beam of x-ray with sharp wavelength l
00 falls on graphite target. For various
angle q the scattered x-ray is measured
as a function of their wavelength
Although initially the incident
450 beam consists of only a single
well-defined wavelength (l) the
scattered x-rays have intensity
peaks at two wavelength (l’ in
900 addition), where l’ > l.
Unexplained by classical wave
Wavelength theory for radiation
1350 shift
No shift of wavelength is
predicted in wave theory of
light
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Compton scattering
Dl ≡ l’ - l = (h/mec)(1 - cosq)
Notice that Dl depend on q only, not on the
incident wavelength, l.
Consider some limiting behaviour of the
Compton shift:
For q = 00 “grazing” collision => Dl
=0
l l’
l
q0
For q = 1800 “head on” collision
Dl= Dlmax = 2 lc =2( 0.00243nm)
Dlmax (photon being reversed in direction), Dl is
180o maximum
l
l’=0.1795 nm l’= l+Dlmax 10
Compton Scattering
• But the actual predictions of how the light
scatters from the charged particles does
not fit our simple wave model.
• If we consider the photon idea of light,
some of the photons would “hit” the
charged particles and “bounce off”. The
laws of conservation of energy and
momentum should then predict the
scattering.
Compton Scattering
As we will see in part four of the course,
photons DO HAVE MOMENTUM as well as
energy. The scattered photons will have less
energy and less momentum after collision
with electrons, and so should have a larger
wavelength according to the formula:
Dl = lscattered - lincident = (h/mc)[1-cos(q)]
Compton Scattering
Dl = lscattered - lincident = (h/mc)[1-cos(q)]
Note that the maximum change in wavelength
is (for scattering from an electron)
2h/mc = 2(6.63 x 10-34 J-s) / (9.1 x 10-31 kg * 3 x 108 m/s)
= 4.86 x 10-12 m = Dl
which would be insignificant for visible light
(with l of 10-7m) but NOT for x-ray and -ray light
(with l of 10-10 m or smaller) .
Compton Scattering
• Calculations
• The change in wavelength can be found by applying
– Energy conservation
2
h + me c = h + Ee = h + p c + m c
2 2
e e
2 4 1/ 2
– Momentum conservation
p = p + pe
2
e
2
2
2
p = p + p - 2 p p = p + p - 2 p p cos q
2
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Compton Scattering
• From energy conservation
me2c 4 + (h - h ) 2 + 2me c 2 h - h = me2c 4 + pe2c 2
h h 2hh
2 2
pe =
2
+ - + 2me h - h
c c
2
c
• From momentum conservation
p = p + p - 2 p p = p 2 - p2 - 2 p p cos q
2
e
2 2
h h h h
2 2
p =
2
e + -2 cos q
c c c c
• Eliminating pe2
me c 2 h - h = hh 1 - cos q 15
Compton Scattering
• Continuing on
- h
= (1 - cos q )
me c 2
• And using v=c/λ we arrive at the Compton effect
l - l =
h
1 - cos q
me c
• And h/mc is called the Compton wavelength
h
lC = = 2.43 10-12 m
me c
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Compton Scattering
• Summarizing and adding a few other useful results
are
l - l =
h
1 - cos q
me c
hv
h =
hv
1 + 1 - cos q
2
me c
Te = h - h
hv q
cot = 1 + tan
2
me c 2 17
