We investigate the question of whether there are any appreciable polarization contributions to the total bremsstrahlung in electron-impact solid thin-film experiments. Our results definitively show no evidence of a polarization contribution. The bremsstrahlung double-differential cross sections at a ${90}^{\circ }$ photon emission angle for collisions of (10–25)-keV electrons with four medium- and high-$Z$ thin-film solid targets are measured, in which the photon energy range is extended down to approximately 3 keV for the solid thin-film experiments. Comparisons of the experimental values with two theories, i.e., ordinary bremsstrahlung (OB) and stripping approximation including polarization bremsstrahlung, are made and good agreement with the OB theory is found. The suppression mechanism of polarization bremsstrahlung in the solid-target experiments will need further theoretical studies.

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• Atomic & molecular collisions