Pulsed X-ray source with the pulse duration of 50 ns and the peak power of 70 MW for capturing moving objects

Traditionally, X-ray systems for capturing moving objects consist of a continuous X-ray source and a detector that operates at a predetermined frame rate.

This study investigates the possibility of using pulsed X-ray source with an inductive energy storage device and a semiconductor opening switch for shooting moving objects.

The study uses a high-voltage pulse generator that has the following parameters namely, the pulse voltage amplitude up to 320 kV, the pulse current up to 240 A, the current pulse duration of about 50 ns, and the pulse repetition rate up to 2 kHz. The duration and intensity of glow for standard CsI:Tl and Gd2O2S:Tb X-ray phosphors after their irradiation with X-ray flashes of about 50 ns duration are investigated. After X-ray radiation is converted into light, the signal is recorded using semiconductor detectors. We acquired several images of an object moving at a speed of about 20 m/s. A semiconductor detector with phosphor, which operates in the mode of continuous signal accumulation, is used.

When using the pulsed X-ray source and phosphors with a short afterglow, the individual frames can be obtained at the pulse repetition rate of several kilohertz, and the detector does not contain the residual luminescence from the previous frame by the arrival of the next frame.

The X-ray source shows good pulse-to-pulse reproducibility of X-rays, and can be used to capture objects in motion at a frame rate of several kHz.