X-ray high frequency pulse emission characteristic and application of CNT cold cathode x-ray source cathode x-ray source

Sheng Lai; Xiaobin Tang; Yunpeng Liu; Junxu Mu; Zhaopeng Feng; Kai Miao

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac378b

X-ray high frequency pulse emission characteristic and application of CNT cold cathode x-ray source cathode x-ray source

Nanotechnology. 2021 Nov 24;33(7). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac378b.

Authors

Sheng Lai^{1

2}, Xiaobin Tang^{1

2}, Yunpeng Liu^{1

2}, Junxu Mu^{1

2}, Zhaopeng Feng^{1

2}, Kai Miao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, People's Republic of China.
² Key Laboratory of Nuclear Technology Application and Radiation Protection in Astronautics, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Nanjing 210016, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 34749351
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac378b

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT) field-emission x-ray source has great potential in x-ray communication (XCOM) because of its controllable emission and instantaneous response. A novel voltage loading mode was proposed in this work to achieve high-frequency pulse x-ray emission. The characteristics of cathode current and pulse x-ray versus voltage, frequency, and pulse amplitude were studied, and XCOM data transmission experiment was carried out. Results showed that the CNT cold cathode x-ray source, as a communication signal source, could work in 1.05 MHz pulse emission frequency. When the grid voltage was higher than 470 V, the pulse x-ray waveform amplitude achieved peak, and the shape exhibited a pseudo square wave. The duty cycle of the x-ray waveform exceeded 50%, reaching 56% when the pulse frequency reached 1 MHz. In the XCOM data transmission experiment, the pulsed x-ray waveform was well consistent with the loading data signal voltage waveform under different pulse-emission frequencies. This work realized the x-ray high-frequency pulse emission of CNT cold cathode x-ray source and lays a foundation for the development and application of CNT cold cathode x-ray source in XCOM.

Keywords: carbon nanotube x-ray source; high-frequency electron emission; pulse source; x-ray communication.