Polarization bremsstrahlung of heavy charged particles in a polycrystal

Polarization bremsstrahlung (PBS) of a fast ion scattered in a polycrystalline medium is calculated and analyzed with allowance for the contributions from the coherent and incoherent channels of the process. It is shown that scattering of a projectile from the crystal lattice of the target is responsible for typical features of the PBS spectrum. For example, PBS is suppressed (as compared to radiation emitted by a single atom) in the low-frequency part of the spectrum, where coherent PBS dominates. In the intermediate spectral region, a step structure is formed as a result of "elimination" of the contribution from the reciprocal lattice vector with a preset magnitude to the coherent component of the process. Finally, incoherent PBS dominates in the high-frequency part of the spectrum and the process occurs as in the case of a single atom. These spectral peculiarities of PBS are determined by the structure of the target and depend on the velocity of the projectile and the emission angle, and can be observed in experiments dealing with radiation emitted by fast charged particles in thin polycrystalline films. (C) 2004 MAIK "Nauka / Interperiodica".