Comparison between electron and neutron Compton scattering studies

¹ Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel
² Nuclear Research Center – Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84190, Israel
³ Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

^a Corresponding author: moreh@bgu.ac.il

Published online: 28 May 2015

Abstract

We compare two techniques: Electron Compton Scattering (ECS) and neutron Compton scattering (NCS) and show that using certain incident energies, both can measure the atomic kinetic energy of atoms in molecules and solids. The information obtained is related to the Doppler broadening of nuclear levels and is very useful for deducing the widths of excited levels in many nuclei in self absorption measurements. A comparison between the atomic kinetic energies measured by the two methods on the same samples is made. Some results are also compared with calculated atomic kinetic energies obtained using the harmonic approximation where the vibrational frequencies were taken from IR/Raman optical measurements. The advantages of the ECS method are emphasized.