Charles Barkla distinguished characteristic X-ray emission associated with a chemical element from radiation that varied more continuously with the exciting conditions. Comparisons of secondary radiation, absorption and emission showed that different chemical elements produce reproducible characteristic components. The emitting material therefore became an experimentally identifiable part of the spectrum. This work helped establish X-ray spectroscopy as a probe of atomic structure before a complete microscopic explanation of the characteristic lines was available.[ref]
The Spectra of the Fluorescent Röntgen Radiations by Charles Glover Barkla. Characteristic secondary-radiation measurements
[ref]Characteristic Röntgen Radiation by Charles Glover Barkla. Nobel lecture: characteristic emission and atomic structure
A physicist.[ref]
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Barkla/. Independent professional biography and identity
Portrait of Charles Barkla
. George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, ggbain.39225; individual photographer not identified. Commons PD-US claim; Library of Congress no-known-publication-restrictions statement. Other jurisdictions may differ., via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
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