Delta ray, in physics, any atomic electron that has acquired sufficient energy by recoiling from a charged particle passing through matter to force, in turn, some dozens of electrons out of other atoms along its own trajectory.
The charged particle giving rise to delta rays generally is relatively large, such as an alpha particle (composed of two protons and two neutrons), but may also be a high-speed electron. This particle, as it slows down in matter, forces thousands of electrons out of atoms by ionization, producing a wake of electrons and positive ions (electron-deficient atoms) that can be detected. The detached electrons are usually of such low energy that they cannot produce further ionization. But periodically, a relatively large amount of energy is transferred to an electron by a nearly head-on collision along the path of the primary ionizing particle. These are the energetic electrons that cause secondary ionization and are referred to as delta rays. On a developed photographic emulsion, in which strongly ionizing particles have left dense tracks, delta rays appear as thin wavy spurs or branches. The term delta ray, first used by the British physicist J.J. Thomson, is sometimes extended to any recoil particle that causes secondary ionization.