Transition radiation as an X-ray source

The design of a transition radiation X-ray source is described. Theoretical and physical optimizations to maximize the photon production in a given frequency bandwidth are presented. An optimization analysis accounting for material properties, multiple scattering, photon absorption, and statistical random errors in foil thicknesses is used to design an X-ray emitter. Three major experiments were performed to verify the derived design equations and a comparison is made to existing synchrotron, Bremsstrahlung, and electron bombardment X-ray sources. A comparison between a transition radiation X-ray source with synchrotron, Bremmstrahlung, and electron bombardment X-ray sources shows it to be highly competitive with unique advantages. Transition radiation can be generated by low energy linear accelerators, unlike synchrotron sources which need high energies and extremely high vacuum. Transition radiation is on par with synchrotron sources in brightness, but can also be designed for the very hard X-ray where no synchrotron source exists. Transition radiation is tunable, polarized and highly directional, unlike electron bombardment X-ray sources.