Re: What is the difference between the photoelectric effect and bremsstrahling?

The photoelectic effect and bremsstrahlung are two fundamentally different 
processes.   Each are defined as follows:

In the photoelectric effect the incident gamma ray interacts with the entire atom, the 
gamma ray disappears, and one of the atomic electrons is ejected from the atom.  
The atom recoils in the process but carries little kinetic energy.  The kinetic energy 
of the ejected electron is therefore equal to the energy of the original gamma ray 
less the binding energy of the electron to the atom.  If the gamma ray succeeds in 
ejecting an inner atomic electron, the resulting hole in the electronic structure is 
filled by the transition of one of the outer electrons into the vacant hole.  This 
transition is accompanied by the emission of x-rays characteristic of the atom or by 
the ejection of an Auger electron.  No visible light is emitted as part of the 
photoelectic effect.

Bremsstrahlung is the German word for "braking radiation".   When an electron 
passes near a nucleus, an inelastic radiative interaction occurs in which an x-ray 
photon is emitted.  The electron is not entirely deflected in this process, but gives up 
a significant amount of its kinetic energy, slowing down in the process.  These x-
rays are referred to as Bremsstrahlung.  This is the process used to generate x-rays 
in medical and dental x-ray machines.  No visible light is produced in this process 
either.

The production of Bremsstrahlung x-rays is an interaction of electrons with matter 
and the photoelectic effect is the interaction of gamma rays with matter.