Which term describes the stopping of an electron by the nucleus producing x-rays?

Bremmstrahlung radiation, often referred to as "braking radiation," occurs when high-speed electrons are decelerated or stopped as they approach the nucleus of an atom. As these electrons are attracted to the positively charged nucleus, their speed decreases, resulting in the loss of kinetic energy which is then emitted in the form of x-ray photons. This process produces continuous spectrum x-rays and is a fundamental mechanism in x-ray production that takes place in dental x-ray machines.

Characteristic radiation, on the other hand, refers to the specific x-rays emitted when an outer-shell electron fills a vacancy in an inner shell of an atom, leading to the discharge of energy equal to the difference in binding energies. The photoelectric effect involves the complete absorption of an x-ray photon by an inner-shell electron, causing it to be ejected from the atom, while Compton scattering describes the interaction where an x-ray photon scatters off a loosely bound outer-shell electron, resulting in a lower energy photon and an ionized electron. Each of these processes plays significant roles in radiography but does not describe the direct stopping of electrons by the nucleus that leads to x-ray production like Bremmstrahlung does.