In the plasma flash x-ray generator, a 200 nF condenser is charged up to 50 kV by a power supply, and flash x-rays are produced by the discharging. The x-ray tube is a demountable triode with a trigger electrode, and the turbomolecular pump evacuates air from the tube with a pressure of approximately 1 mPa. Target evaporation leads to the formation of weakly ionized linear plasma, consisting of copper ions and electrons, around the fine target, and intense Kα lines are left using a 10-μm-thick nickel filter. At a charging voltage of 50 kV, the maximum tube voltage was almost equal to the charging voltage of the main condenser, and the peak current was about 16 kA. The K-series characteristic x-rays were clean and intense, and higher harmonic x-rays were observed. The x-ray pulse widths were approximately 300 ns, and the time-integrated x-ray intensity had a value of approximately 1.5 mGy per pulse at 1.0 m from the x-ray source with a charging voltage of 50 kV.
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