Micro-focus x-ray sources have been wildly applied to more and more fields,such as medical treatment, industrial area and aerospace. As the core indicator of micro-focus x-ray sources, the focal spot size directly affects performance of application scenarios. The smaller the focal spot size, the higher the resolution of micro-focus x-ray sources. So it is vitally important of accurately measuring the focal spot size. Three classic measurement standards of x-ray focal spot size, including the EN 12543, the IEC 60336 and the ASTM E 1165, have been introduced in detail. And the measurement principles, adaptive range, application objects and processing method of tested data are analyzed and compared. Then on this basis of three classic measurement standards, several measurement methods, scanning method, pinhole camera radiographic method, slit camera radiographic method, edge method and measurement of the effective focal spot size of mini and micro focus x-ray tubes, are expatiated. Additionally, advantages and disadvantages of various methods are expounded to readers, and some references are offered to demanders.
It might preserve vital clues about the imprints of life and the past livability of the planet, which are important information for studying the origin and the history of the planet, of planetary rocks or soils, so the measurement of planetary rock or soil composition is a basis of planetary exploration. Most of current composition analysis of rocks or soils, based on alpha particle backscattering technique and spectrum measurement of laser excitation, has disadvantages of low measurement accuracy, large resource demand and long measurement time. So it is urgent to seek different methods to measure the rocks or soils of planetary. A few of merits are included in x-ray active excitation mode: firstly, it has good resolution ability for elements above medium quality; secondly, the detection sensitivity of elements can reduce to 10ppm. As long as anode targets are changed, the detection sensitivity of any element can be matched. JPL is developing a prototype of a new rock composition analysis instrument based on x-ray source in order to satisfy the needs of NASA Mars 2020 exploration. It is irreplaceable as the next generation of planetary rocks or soils composition analysis instrument of x-ray active excitation mode. Therefore, the core content of this paper is to develop a composition analysis instrument, which integrates miniature x-ray source with the silicon drift detector (SDD).As the key technology of x-ray active excitation mode, miniature x-ray source must meet the needs of low power consumption, self-sealing, high intensity and micro-focus spot. For this purpose, a design proposal of the miniature x-ray source is proposed and its theoretical model is established. The size of cathode structure greatly impacts on the size of the whole miniature x-ray tube on account of the simplicity structure of x-ray tubes. So compared with the traditional x-ray source, a new cathode structure is used for the sake of reducing the whole size of the miniature x-ray tube. Not only that, but the size of cathode structure has influence on the structure of filaments, the magnitude of current and the size of focal spot of x-rays. At the same time, mini focal spot is needed to enhance the resolution ratio and intensity of rocks or soils composition analysis instruments. Hence, it is indispensable to optimize the cathode structure in order to realize the miniature size and mini focal spot. A simulation model has been set up based on theoretical calculation and simulated using charged particle optics software COMSOL or SIMION. The shape and the size of x-ray tube’s cathode have been optimized so as to attain the mini focal spot. Additionally, the influence of high voltage loaded on the cathode or the filament to focal spot size has been taken fully into account. Moreover, the SDD detector is also integrated with the miniature x-ray source and the whole volume of the composition analysis instrument decreases which is beneficial to the deep space exploration.
An inter-satellite X-ray communication system is presented in this paper. X-ray has a strong penetrating power without almost attenuation for transmission in outer space when the energy of X-ray photons is more than 10KeV and the atmospheric pressure is lower than 10-1 Pa, so it is convincing of x-ray communication in inter-satellite communication and deep space exploration. Additionally, using X-ray photons as information carriers can be used in some communication applications that laser communication and radio frequency (RF) communication are not available, such as ionization blackout area communication. The inter-satellites X-ray communication system, including the grid modulated X-ray source, the high-sensitivity X-ray detector and the transmitting and receiving antenna, is described explicitly. As the X-ray transmitter, a vacuum-sealed miniature modulated X-ray source has been fabricated via the single-step brazing process in a vacuum furnace. Pulse modulation of X-rays, by means of controlling the voltage value of the grid electrode, is realized. Three focusing electrodes, meanwhile, are used to make the electron beam converge and finally 150μm focusing spot diameter is obtained. The X-ray detector based on silicon avalanche photodiodes (APDs) is chosen as the communication receiver on account of its high temporal resolution and non-vacuum operating environment. Furthermore, considering x-ray emission characteristic and communication distance of X-rays, the multilayer nested rotary parabolic optics is picked out as transmitting and receiving antenna. And as a new concept of the space communication, there will be more important scientific significance and application prospects, called “Next-Generation Communications”.
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