The development of a high power bremsstrahlung radiator for the production of monochromatic X-rays

An experimental setup for the production of monochromatic X-ray beams tunable in the energy region between 75 KeV and 700 KeV was built at our facility. The concept is based on monochromatization of a broad energy bremsstrahlung spectrum by Laue diffraction on a curved single crystal and by selection of the desired energy with an appropriate slit system, 10.45 meters behind the crystal. The bremsstrahlung spectrum is created when accelerated electrons from a high power 20 kW linac lose energy in a radiator. In this study, the radiator has been optimized for the creation of a bremsstrahlung spectrum suitable for monochromatization with a crystal. Monte-Carlo Simulations (using the BEAM-EGS4 code) of electrons incident with different energies on a radiator with varying composition (aluminum, carbon and tantalum) and thickness were carried out. Furthermore a study of the thermal properties of these materials when being exposed to a high power electron beam was done. This lead to the remarkable conclusion that a thin radiator composed of a low Z material should be used. This result is quite surprising as usually a high Z material is used for efficient transformation of charged particle energy to bremsstrahlung photons. A low Z radiator however will create a less divergent photon beam, leading to more photons on the effective surface area of the crystal. A set of radiators was designed to have an optimal configuration for different monochromatic beams needed. Because only a small fraction of the electrons are stopped in these thin radiators, a cleaning magnet and a beamstop need to be inserted in the setup. Due to the high power of the electron beam on the one hand and its divergency after traversing the radiator on the other, a special magnet system had to be designed to remove the electrons from the photon beam. This was done by means of Monte-Carlo simulations and a ray tracing program. Finally it was estimated that, when using this new setup, the intensity of the monochromatic photon beam would increase by a factor of forty. (author)