Temporal parameters of the X-pinch x-ray source

The X pinch has proved to be an excellent source of 2.5--10 keV radiation for point-projection radiography with spatial resolution of 2 μm or even better. The pulse duration of the x-ray bursts has been investigated for a wide variety of wire materials in the 1.5--10 keV energy range using a set of fast diamond photoconducting detectors with different filters, and using an x-ray streak camera to observe the source through four different filters on each pulse. All wires tested have intense continuum up to at least 6 keV, and the duration of the pulse is shorter for the harder radiation component for all materials. However, there are substantial differences between materials. For example, the pulse duration for Al with filtering for energy ≥1.5 and ≥5 keV are about 1 and 0.5 ns, respectively. By contrast, for Mo with filtering for energy ≥2.5 and ≥5 keV, the pulse durations are about 200 ps and ≤80 ps, respectively