William Lawrence Bragg's 1913 structure paper connects a slit-selected beam, an oriented crystal and an ionization chamber to strength-versus-angle curves. Repeated sine ratios and matching absorption coefficients identify common radiation. Narrower slits resolve blended lines. Absolute wavelengths remain undetermined there; intercrystal comparisons first give relative scales. The Bragg crystal reflection experiment of 1913 covers the alignment controls.[ref]
The Structure of Some Crystals as Indicated by their Diffraction of X-rays by William Lawrence Bragg. pp. 268–272, especially Fig. 16: angular ionization scans, order/absorption comparison, slit resolution and wavelength-scale limitation
William Henry Bragg's 1915 Bakerian lecture, X-rays and Crystal Structure, separates the geometric and intensity arguments. Its Figure 9 compares reflection positions and strengths from three sodium chloride orientations; odd and even diffraction orders differ in strength along one orientation. The interpretation uses alternating scattering layers. Later, the calcite example identifies an internal oxygen coordinate that symmetry alone cannot fix. Improved wave intensity measurements revise a previously rough estimate. Thus a lattice assignment can precede determination of positions inside the unit cell; intensity interpretation also has experimental and theoretical limits. This is the father's 1915 lecture, distinct from the joint 1913 reflection paper.[ref]
Compton scattering experiment of 1923 2026-10-18
In Arthur Holly Compton's A Quantum Theory of the Scattering of X-rays by Light Elements (1923), pp. 494–495 and Figure 4 compare X-rays from a molybdenum target with rays scattered by graphite at right angles. Slits select the rays; a calcite crystal analyzes their wavelengths by Bragg's law. The plotted readout is scattered wave intensity against the crystal's glancing angle, distinct from the fixed photon deflection. The primary-beam comparison uses the same slits, crystal, and tube potential. First-order diffraction lines on both sides establish angular zero. The displaced spectral line supports a longer outgoing wavelength and hence photon energy transfer. The two curves use different vertical scales, so their heights cannot directly compare absolute wave intensities. The paper postpones a fuller apparatus description; it also states on p. 496 that recoil Electrons from ordinary X-rays had not been observed. Thus this spectral test infers recoil through the conservation model rather than directly tracking an Electron.[ref]
A Quantum Theory of the Scattering of X-rays by Light Elements by Arthur Holly Compton. Compton, Physical Review 21 (1923), pp. 494–496, Experimental Test, Figure 4 and opening of Velocity of recoil of the scattering electrons