Liquid-metal-jet anode electron-impact x-ray source

We demonstrate an anode concept, based on a liquid-metal jet, for improved brightness in compact electron-impact x-ray sources. The source is demonstrated in a proof-of-principle experiment where a 50 keV, ∼100 W electron beam is focused on a 75 μm liquid-solder jet. The generated x-ray flux and brightness is quantitatively measured in the 7–50 keV spectral region and found to agree with theory. Compared to rotating-anode sources, whose brightness is limited by intrinsic thermal properties, the liquid-jet anode could potentially be scaled to achieve a brightness 100× higher than current state-of-the-art sources. Applications such as mammography, angiography, and diffraction would benefit from such a compact high-brightness source.