Screened Thin-Target Bremsstrahlung with Partially-Ionized High-Z Species

TL;DR

This paper introduces an analytic model for bremsstrahlung emission from high-Z, partially ionized atoms, improving the accuracy of electron-ion interaction descriptions in high-energy environments.

Contribution

It extends existing models to include partially ionized high-Z atoms using a multi-Yukawa potential, enabling precise cross section calculations for various ionization states.

Findings

Developed a fully analytic screening model for high-Z, partially ionized atoms.

Enabled calculation of bremsstrahlung cross sections up to tens of MeV.

Extended prior neutral atom models to include ionized species.

Abstract

Bremsstrahlung emission remains a cornerstone process in the characterization of electron dynamics in diverse high-energy environments. In particular, the accurate description of thin-target electron-ion bremsstrahlung in the presence of high-$Z$ species requires careful treatment of atomic screening effects, especially when atoms are partially ionized. We present a fully analytic screening model based on a multi-Yukawa representation of the atomic potential, enabling the calculation of bremsstrahlung cross sections for arbitrary nuclear charge and ionization state, and electron energies up to a few tens of MeV. This framework extends prior treatments of neutral atoms to include partially ionized high-$Z$ elements in a fully analytic framework.