In the plasma flash x-ray generator, a 200 nF condenser is charged up to 50 kV by a power supply, and flash x rays are produced by the discharging. The x-ray tube is a demountable triode with a double target consisting of a copper and a molybdenum rods, and the turbomolecular pump evacuates air from the tube with a pressure of approximately 1 mPa. Target evaporation leads to the formation of weakly ionized linear plasma, consisting of metal ions and electrons, around the fine target, and intense characteristic x rays are produced. At a charging voltage of 50 kV, the maximum tube voltage was almost equal to the charging voltage of the main condenser, and the peak current was about 11 kA. When the charging voltage was increased, the linear plasma formed, and the molybdenum K-series characteristic x-ray intensities increased substantially. Although the intensities of copper Kα lines increased with increases in the charging voltage, hardly any clean Kα lines were detected. The x-ray pulse widths were approximately 1.2 μs, and the time-integrated x-ray intensity was approximately 30 μC/kg at 1.0 m from the x-ray source with a charging voltage of 50 kV.
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