DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL W-PG LAMINATE X-RAY TARGET WITH IMPROVED FOCAL SPOT POWER DENSITY

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT In x-ray imaging, the focal spot power density constrains further improvement of image resolution and imaging speed. The thermal conductivity of tungsten (W) limits the maximum power and minimum dimension of the focal spot allowed in x-ray sources. Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite (PG) has a thermal conductivity about 10 times higher than W in its a-b crystalline plane, but unsuitable to be used as x-ray source target alone due to its low atomic number. We will design and develop a novel W-PG laminate target that takes advantages of both materials and significantly improve x-ray source focal spot power density. Hereby, we propose two specific aims in this study: 1) Development of W-PG laminate target using chemical vapor deposition (CVD); 2) Evaluation and optimization of W-PG laminate target. Through the two-year study, a new anode fabrication process will be developed, which can be used to produce high performance x-ray sources.