Research on the Distribution of Intensity and Energy of Radiation from Pulsed Coaxial X-Ray Tubes with Peak Voltages up to 615 kV

Abstract

The research investigates the distribution of intensity and energy of X-ray radiation in the detector plane for three pulsed X-ray sources. The sources generate nanosecond duration radiation pulses with different maximum voltages: 90, 320, and 615 kV. The X-ray tubes of these sources are designed in a coaxial form, with a tantalum disc as the autoemission cathode, which has an internal hole whose diameter depends on the maximum voltage of the source. The anode is a sharpened tungsten rod with a diameter of 4 mm. Due to the electrode design, which allows for a relatively small focal spot at high voltages, the distribution of radiation intensity across the detector area differs from the classical Gaussian distribution. This difference is observed for sources with maximum voltages above 300 kV. The ability to obtain high-energy radiation allows for the application of these sources in obtaining dual-energy X-ray images. The dependence of the distribution of radiation with different effective energies across the detector area is investigated for efficient use of dual-energy processing.