X-ray tube with enhanced small spot cathode and methods for manufacture thereof
US7657003B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 4, 2008 |
| Grant date | Feb 2, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 4, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J2201/28
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An x-ray source produces a well-defined electron beam, without an undesirable halo. The x-ray source includes a housing, a cathode disposed within the housing, an anode spaced apart from the cathode for accelerating electrons emitted from the cathode and an x-ray emitter target disposed within the housing and spaced apart from the cathode for impact by the accelerated electrons. The cathode includes a passivation layer over only a portion of the area of the cathode, leaving an emission portion of the cathode that is not passivated. The passivation layer reduces or prevents emissions from the passivated portion of the cathode, thereby preventing a halo, which would otherwise be produced by lower-level emissions from the portion of the cathode that surrounds the emission portion of the cathode.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.