Bright, low debris, ultrashort hard x-ray table top source using carbon nanotubes

S. Bagchi (1, 2) , P.P. Kiran (1, 2) , K. Yang (3) , A.M. Rao (3) , M.K. Bhuyan (4) , M. Krishnamurthy (1) , G.R. Kumar (1)

1 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research [Bangalore]
2 University of Hyderabad
3 Clemson University
4 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)

We demonstrate that carbon nanotube coated surfaces produce two orders of magnitude brighter hard x-ray emission, in laser produced plasmas, than planar surfaces. It is accompanied by three orders of magnitude reduction in ion debris which is also low Z and nontoxic. The increased emission is a direct consequence of the enhancement in local fields and is via the simple and well known "lightning rod" effect. We propose that this carbon nanotube hard x-ray source is a simple, inexpensive, and high repetition rate hard x-ray point source for a variety of applications in imaging, lithography, microscopy, and material processing.

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

S. Bagchi, P.P. Kiran, K. Yang, A.M. Rao, M.K. Bhuyan, et al.. Bright, low debris, ultrashort hard x-ray table top source using carbon nanotubes. Physics of Plasmas, 2011, 18 (1), pp.014502. ⟨10.1063/1.3531685⟩. ⟨hal-00611037⟩