COMPACT E-BEAM SOURCE FOR GENERATING X-RAYS

摘要

Various novel apparatuses and methods for generating X-rays are disclosed. In some embodiments, the apparatuses may, for example, be configured and arranged so that one or more of the following criteria are met: (A) for at least one interception point on a particular portion of a scan path on a surface of a target along which a steering element steers an accelerated electron beam (e-beam), both an angle and its complement between a line corresponding to a direction in which the accelerated e-beam is traveling at the interception point and a line oriented normal to the surface of the target at such interception point are greater than forty five degrees; (B) for at least one interception point on the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam, either an angle or its complement between a line corresponding to a direction in which the accelerated e-beam is traveling at the interception point and a line that is tangent to the scan path at such interception point is less than forty five degrees; (C) for at least one interception point on the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam, both an angle and its complement between a line corresponding to a direction in which the accelerated e-beam is traveling at an e-beam origination point of the steering element and a line oriented normal to a surface of the target at such interception point are greater than forty five degrees; (D) for at least one interception point on the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam, either an angle or its complement between a line corresponding to a direction in which the accelerated e-beam is traveling at an e-beam origination point of the steering element and a line that is tangent to the scan path at such interception point is less than forty five degrees; (E) a minimal distance between the e-beam origination point of the steering element and the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam is less than fifty percent of a maximal distance between the e-beam origination point of the steering element and the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam; (F) for each interception point on the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam, a maximum dimension of the interior cavity of the vacuum chamber, measured in a plane that contains such interception point and to x which a line that is tangent to the scan path at such interception point is normal, is less than fifty percent of a total e-beam scan distance along the particular portion of the scan path on the surface of the target along which the steering element steers the accelerated e-beam; and (G) for each interception point on the scan path on the surface of the target, a maximum dimension of the interior cavity of the vacuum chamber, measured in a plane that contains such interception point and to which a line that is tangent to the scan path at such interception point is normal, is less than fifty percent of a total e-beam scan distance along the scan path on the surface of the target.