Transparent target for ultrafast electron beam tomography

In electron beam tomography a rotating X-ray source is generated by electromagnetic scanning of a high-power electron beam across a spatially fixed circular metal target. The X-rays passing the object of investigation are registered by a circular fast X-ray detector array. A basic problem associated with this scanning principle is the angular overlap of the X-ray focal spot path and the detector, which is required for image reconstruction. Therefore, the X-ray production target and the detector array are commonly arranged with some axial displacement. This displacement may produce image artifacts because X-rays are not longer confined to a transversal plane. We propose a novel transparent X-ray target, which fully solves this problem. The new target concept has been practically tested with respect to thermal behavior and electron beam resistance. Its successful application in an experimental tomography setup is demonstrated.