A design of transmission-type multi-target X-ray tube based on electric field modulation

Multi-target X-ray tube is a new type X-ray source, and can be applied in many fields such as sensitive X-ray fluorescence analysis and medical imaging. In this work, we report an electric field modulation multi-target X-ray tube, which contains four targets (Cr, Ni, Au, Mo) coated on a Beryllium (Be) window. A four-valve electric field deflector was developed to deflect the electron beam to bombard the corresponding targets. Particle dynamics analysis software was employed to simulate the particle tracking of electron beam. The results show that the 30 keV electron beam could get a 6.7 mm displacement on the target plane by 105 V/m electric field. The focus areas are about 2 mm × 5 mm and 4 mm × 2.5 mm after deflection in two directions. Thermal behavior calculated by ANSYS shows that the designed target assembly could withstand a 10 W continuous power. The optimum target thicknesses and emission spectra were obtained by Geant4 when the thickness of Be window was 300 μm and the electron beam incident angle was 0.141 rad. The results indicate that this multi-target X-ray tube could provide different X-ray sources effectively.