Studies on enhancement of x-ray flux in the compact electron cyclotron resonance plasma x-ray source

The electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma x-ray source has a potential application for medical imaging. The plasma and x-ray characterization stud ies on the ECR x-ray source based on cylindrical cavity operated in TE111 m ode were reported earlier by us. In order to enhance the x-ray flux and the effective energy of the x-ray spectrum, the use of rectangular cavity in E CR x-ray source is studied. In this article, the theoretical analysis of el ectron acceleration in TE101 rectangular cavity used as a cyclotron resonan ce accelerator is presented. The electron orbital values of rectangular cav ity are compared with that of cylindrical cavity (TE111 mode). It is found that there is an increase in final energy of electron (170 keV), reduction in electron transit time, and increase in distance between the successive o rbits in the rectangular cavity than the cylindrical cavity. An ECR x-ray s ource based on rectangular cavity has been designed and constructed and the experimental system is described. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(00)54702-9].