Feasibility study of the high frequency X-ray communication using selective characteristic X-rays

Abstract

It has been shown that X-ray communication is a significant way for the deep space communication, as well as can be applied when the spacecraft through the plasma sheath encountered during reentry into earth’s atmosphere period for the high frequency. The way of the X-ray frequency modulation is proposed to have a higher emission efficiency than the on–off​ control method. To develop this method for the further application, in this work, we set up an X-ray communication system consisting of a magnetic-modulated two-target X-ray tube and a silicon drift detector. Two kinds of selective characteristic X-rays, which are Cr-Kα of about 5.414 keV and Cu-Kα of about 8.047 keV, are employed as the carrier signals. The corrected results showed while the information was coded and modulated to emit X-rays, the characteristic X-ray intensities recorded by the detector changed a lot corresponding to the coded digital signals. Our method may provide a more selective way to optimize the X-ray communication system toward the practical application in space communication.