Characterization of an X-ray Source Generated by a Portable Low-Current X-Pinch

Alexandros Skoulakis,Christos Karvounis,John Chatzakis,Ioannis Fitilis,Vasilis Dimitriou,Evaggelos Kaselouris,Nektarios A Papadogiannis,Antonis Kavroulakis,Michael Tatarakis

doi:10.3390/app112311173

Alexandros Skoulakis, Christos Karvounis + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app112311173

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Abstract

An X-pinch scheme of a low-current generator (45 kA, 50 ns rise time) is characterized as a potential efficient source of soft X-rays. The X-pinch target consists of wires of 5 μm in diameter—made from either tungsten (W) or gold (Au)-plated W—loaded at two angles of 55° and 98° between the crossed wires. Time-resolved soft X-ray emission measurements are performed to provide a secure correlation with the optical probing results. A reconstruction of the actual photodiode current profile procedure was adopted, capable of overcoming the limits of the slow rising and falling times due to the “slow” response of the diodes and the noise. The pure and Au-plated W deliver an average X-ray yield, which depends only on the angle of the crossed wires, and is measured to be ~50 mJ and ~70 mJ for the 98° and 55° crossed wire angles, respectively. An additional experimental setup was developed to characterize the X-pinch as a source of X-rays with energy higher than ~6 keV, via time-integrated measurements. The X-ray emission spectrum was found to have an upper limit at 13 keV for the Au-plated W configuration at 55°. The portable tabletop X-pinch proved to be ideal for use in X-ray radiography applications, such as the detection of interior defects in biological samples.

Highlights

Published: 25 November 2021Pulsed-power plasma devices loaded as Z-pinch, X-pinch, wire arrays, or liners have the ability to reproduce a vast variety of plasmas, such as dense plasmas for fusion studies, laboratory astrophysics plasmas, dense and hot point-source plasmas for hard X-ray generation, and lower density hot plasmas
Since the first realization by Zakharov et al [1], X-pinch plasmas driven by pulsed-power machines have been efficiently used as brightpoint sources for X-ray radiation in applications such as point-projection radiography of plasmas [2,3], X-ray microscopy for biological samples [3,4,5], and inertial confinement fusion capsules [6]
In the X-pinch wire configuration, plasmas are typically produced by two wires touching at the cross-point, forming an “X”

Summary

Introduction

Published: 25 November 2021Pulsed-power plasma devices loaded as Z-pinch, X-pinch, wire arrays, or liners have the ability to reproduce a vast variety of plasmas, such as dense plasmas for fusion studies, laboratory astrophysics plasmas, dense and hot point-source plasmas for hard X-ray generation, and lower density hot plasmas. Since the first realization by Zakharov et al [1], X-pinch plasmas driven by pulsed-power machines have been efficiently used as brightpoint sources for X-ray radiation in applications such as point-projection radiography of plasmas [2,3], X-ray microscopy for biological samples [3,4,5], and inertial confinement fusion capsules [6]. This variety of applications requires an energy range of radiation from 1 to 12 keV [4,10]. A hot, dense plasma is produced (the pinching effect), and energetic X-rays (~1–8 keV) are emitted for a short ns or sub-ns time duration [11]. And immediately after the Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

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