Compact X-ray radiograph based on a plasma gun

The results of the experiments on the formation of a plasma emitter with small spatial dimensions for pulsed radiography in the soft X-ray spectral range are presented. Emitting hot plasma was formed as a result of compression of the plasma jet by a current pulse with amplitude I_m = 215 kA and rise time T_fr = 200 ns. For the jet formation, we used a plasma gun based on the arc discharge (I_m = 8.5 kA and T_fr = 6 μs) initiated by breakdown over the surface of a dielectric in vacuum. The experiments were carried out with aluminum, tin, copper, and iron plasma jets. A single emitter, i. e., point Z-pinch (PZ-pinch), was formed when an interelectrode gap of a high current generator of 1.3-1.5 mm was used. The smallest spatial dimensions of the emitting region were obtained with the use of aluminum and tin. For a tin jet, the diameter of the emitting region was 7 ± 2 μm and its height was 17 ± 2 μm. The emission pulse duration at half-height was 2-3 ns. The total emission yield per pulse in the spectral range 1. 56-1. 90 keV was 30-50 mJ for the aluminum pinch and 10-30 mJ for the tin pinch. The developed method makes it possible to carry out radiographic examination of microobjects (including biological ones) 1-1000 μm in thickness, with spatial (10-20 μm) and time (2-3 ns) resolution.