Abstract

Fast electrons traversing the interface of two media with different dielectric constants generate the so-called transition radiation. In a multilayer structure with many interfaces, the radiation is greatly enhanced and concentrates conically around some resonant angle. It was recently shown¹ that multilayer solid-state structures with a spatial period as thin as 10-100 Å (which can be readily fabricated with the present technologies) can be used to generate x-ray radiation with a subrelativistic electron beam. However, the losses due to photoabsorption, bremsstrahlung radiation, and electron scattering cannot be neglected in a solid-state structure.

© 1987 Optical Society of America