An X-ray target assembly includes a cylindrical base and a cylindrical multilayered X-ray target that includes at least a heat transfer layer, an X-ray source layer and an adhesion layer provided between the heat transfer layer and the X-ray source layer , wherein the X-ray target is oriented such that the heat transfer layer is closest to the base, wherein the X-ray target is placed on top of a cylindrical carrying element, wherein the in-plane coefficient of thermal expansion of each of the heat transfer layer, the X-ray source layer, the adhesion layer and of the material of the carrying element is different, wherein the in-plane coefficient of thermal expansion of the heat transfer layer is the lowest and that of the material of the carrying element the highest.

The present disclosure relates to the production and use of a multi-layer X-ray source target. In certain implementations, layers of X-ray generating material may be interleaved with thermally conductive layers. To prevent delamination of the layers, various mechanical, chemical, and structural approaches are related, including approaches for reducing the internal stress associated with the deposited layers and for increasing binding strength between layers.

Technology is described for an anode including a substrate, a target, and an anode shield. The substrate including a substrate material includes a first portion with a first cross-sectional dimension, and a second portion with a second cross-sectional dimension greater than the first cross-sectional dimension. The target includes a target material attached to a first surface of the first portion of the substrate. The anode shield includes a shield material attached to a second surface of the second portion of the substrate, and the substrate material differs from the target material and the shield material.

The present invention is intended to provide improved patterned X-ray emitting targets as well as X-ray sources that include patterned X-ray emitting targets as well as X-ray reflectance scatterometry (XRS) systems and also including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) systems and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) systems which employ such X-ray emitting targets.

A rotary x-ray anode with an integrated liquid metal bearing outer shell has an anode disc made of Mo or a Mo-based alloy formed with a hole, which is formed centrally in the region of the axis of rotation and extends in the axial direction at least through part of the anode disc, and a bearing bushing made of Mo or a Mo-based alloy. The bearing bushing is connected to the anode disc via a material bond and its inner wall extends the hole in the anode disc. At least an axial portion of an inner wall of the hole in the anode disc and at least an axial portion of an inner wall of the bearing bushing are formed circumferentially as a liquid metal bearing running surface and they form at least a part of a liquid metal bearing outer shell. There is also described a corresponding production method.

An x-ray tube source is disclosed that allows differential phase shift, attenuation, and x-ray scattering features of an object to be acquired in a single exposure. Such multiplexed x-ray tube source includes multiple x-ray spot origins controlled in such a way that each slightly separated spot is temporally modulated “ON and OFF” at differing frequencies. In an x-ray interferometer system, such x-ray tube source forms multiple illumination beams of a single angular view of an object's feature but each with different interference fringe locations. A composite image can be acquired with a high frame-rate digital detector as a component element in such x-ray interferometer system. Such composite image can be subsequently de-multipexed and separately presented according to each spot-source illumination beam. Such isolated images of an object's feature, each having different fringe locations, allows for post-acquisition “fringe-mapping” analysis of the feature's full interaction with x-rays, including refraction, scattering, and absorption.

An x-ray transmission spectrometer system to be used with a compact x-ray source to measure x-ray absorption with both high spatial and high spectral resolution. The spectrometer system comprises a compact high brightness x-ray source, an optical system with a low pass spectral filter property to focus the x-rays through an object to be examined, and a spectrometer comprising a crystal analyzer (and, in some embodiments, a mosaic crystal) to disperse the transmitted beam, and in some instances an array detector. The high brightness/high flux x-ray source may have a take-off angle between 0 and 15 degrees, and be coupled to an optical system that collects and focuses the high flux x-rays to micron-scale spots, leading to high flux density. The x-ray optical system may also act as a “low-pass” filter, allowing a predetermined bandwidth of x-rays to be observed at one time while excluding the higher harmonics.

A transmission-target x-ray tube can include an x-ray window 12 mounted on a window-housing 13. The window-housing 13 can be made of a high density material with a high atomic number, and can include an aperture 13.sub.a with an increasing-inner-diameter region 23 for blocking x-rays and electrons.

An x-ray transmission device includes two surfaces in frictional contact within a low fluid pressure environment provided by a housing substantially opaque to x-rays. Materials of the two surfaces are selected such that the frictional contact generates relative charging between the surfaces. The housing includes a window substantially transparent to x-rays, and an electron target, for example a metal, is on an interior surface of the window. The electron target faces the surface that is relatively negatively charged, such that electrons accelerated from that surface, or accelerated due to the negative charge of that surface strike the electron target to generate x-rays, which may be transmitted through the window.

Provided is an X-ray generator having: an anode that faces a cathode which generates electrons; a plurality of X-ray generation zones; a casing housing the cathode and the anode; an anode support body for supporting the anode; an air cylinder for producing advancing and retreating movement of the anode support body with respect to the casing; and a stopper device that halts the movement of the anode support body when the anode support body moves in a direction approaching the casing. The stopper device has a rotating plate equipped with a section that enters and exits from between the anode support body and the casing due to rotation, a motor for driving the same, and a plurality of stop members provided in a peripheral section of the rotating plate and having mutually different heights.