Compton Scattering (further confirmation of photon model):

In 1923, Arthur Holly Compton observed that when a beam of X-Rays is incident on a target,
it gets scattered. The scattered rays were found to possess a wavelength greater than the
incident radiation.

The experimental set up included a source of radiation, collimating slits, a target and a
detector that can be set at any angle to detect the scattered radiation.

Figure shows an X-Ray photon striking an electron of the target (initially at rest) and gets
scattered from its original direction of motion and continues to move ahead making an angle
Φ with respect to the incident direction. The photon when collides with the electron, it passes
part of its energy to the electron. The electron gains the excess energy and gets scattered,
starting to move making an angle θ with its kinetic energy gained from the photon.
If the energy of incident photon is hυ, since the photon loses a part of its energy to the
electron (as its KE), the scattered photon will travel with a reduced energy hυ '. The lost
energy is used by the electron as its KE.

Therefore, 𝐾𝐸 = ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ (1.6)

For the scattering to occur, energy and momentum should be conserved.

Now, the energy of a massless particle is expressed as 𝐸 = 𝑝𝑐

Photon being a massless particle having energy hυ, its momentum can be expressed as

𝐸 ℎ𝜐
𝑝= =
𝑐 𝑐

Momentum is actually a vector quantity having both magnitude and direction. For the
scattering to occur, momentum must be conserved along the initial direction of photon and
also perpendicular to it. The momentum of incident photon is hυ/c and that of scattered
photon is hυ'/c. while the initial momentum of the electron is zero (as it is at rest) and that of
the scattered electron is p. Therefore, according to the law of conservation of momentum
along the direction of the incident photon (say x-axis)

𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 = 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚

ℎ𝜐 ℎ𝜐′
+0= 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷 + 𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (1.7)
𝑐 𝑐

While, for the conservation of momentum perpendicular to the initial direction (say y-axis)

𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 = 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚

ℎ𝜐′
0= 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛷 − 𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 (1.8)
𝑐

Where, Φ is the angle between the incident and scattered photon, while θ is the angle between
the direction of incident photon and scattered electron. Simplifying the above two equations
would provide a relation between the wavelengths of the initial and scattered photons.

For this, multiply (1.7) and (1.8) by c

𝑝𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷

𝑝𝑐𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = ℎ𝜐 ′ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛷

Squaring both the equations and adding them to eliminate θ.

The relativistic total energy of a particle is generally expressed as

𝐸 = 𝐾𝐸 + 𝑚𝑐 2

𝐸 = √𝑚2 𝑐 4 + 𝑝2 𝑐 2

Equating the two, (𝐾𝐸 + 𝑚𝑐 2 )2 = 𝑚2 𝑐 4 + 𝑝2 𝑐 2

(𝐾𝐸)2 + 𝑚2 𝑐 4 + 2(𝐾𝐸)(𝑚𝑐 2 ) = 𝑚2 𝑐 4 + 𝑝2 𝑐 2

Therefore, 𝑝2 𝑐 2 = (𝐾𝐸 )2 + 2(𝐾𝐸 )(𝑚𝑐 2 )

Substituting the value of KE from (1.6), we have

𝑝2 𝑐 2 = (ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ )2 + 2(ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ )(𝑚𝑐 2 )

𝑝2 𝑐 2 = (ℎ𝜐)2 + (ℎ𝜐 ′ )2 − 2(ℎ𝜐)(ℎ𝜐 ′ ) + 2(ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ )(𝑚𝑐 2 ) (1.10)

Substituting (1.10) in (1.9), we get;

(ℎ𝜐)2 + (ℎ𝜐 ′ )2 − 2(ℎ𝜐)(ℎ𝜐 ′ ) + 2(ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ )(𝑚𝑐 2 ) = (ℎ𝜐)2 − 2(ℎ𝜐)(ℎ𝜐 ′ )𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷 + (ℎ𝜐 ′ )2

2(ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐 ′ )(𝑚𝑐 2 ) = 2(ℎ𝜐)(ℎ𝜐 ′ )(1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷) (1.11)

Since we are interested in an expression for wavelength, divide (1.11) by 2h2c2

𝑚𝑐 𝜐 𝜐 ′ 𝜐 𝜐′
( − )= (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷)
ℎ 𝑐 𝑐 𝑐𝑐

𝜐 1 𝜐′ 1
Since, 𝑐 = 𝜆 and = 𝜆′
𝑐

Therefore,
𝑚𝑐 1 1 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷)
( − ′) =
ℎ 𝜆 𝜆 𝜆𝜆′
ℎ
Compton effect: 𝜆′ − 𝜆 = 𝑚𝑐 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛷) (1.12)

Where, h/mc is called the Compton wavelength.

In the Compton effect the single known wavelength of X-Rays is incident on a target and the
scattered X-Rays are detected at various angles Φ. The wavelength shift predicted by (1.12) is
shown in figure.