International Business Machines Corporation

Research, Incorporated

Richard A McCorkle

Russell W Dreyfus

James M Joyce

Nicholas A Penebre

An intense electrical discharge along the axis of a capillary having condensed phase (liquid or solid) walls produces a controlled transient plasma temperature of 10 million degrees Kelvin or more. In order to reach such a temperature, the capillary is formed with a suitably small diameter and a sufficiently large aspect ratio and the electrical discharge must have a suitably short risetime and a sufficient high intensity. In the preferred embodiment, the capillary walls comprise thermonuclear fusible material, the plasma temperature reaches at least 60 million degrees Kelvin, and the density-time product is sufficient to produce a useful thermonuclear fusion reaction. The ultra-high temperature capillary discharge can be used as a pulsed source of nuclear and/or x-ray radiation or as a pulsed nuclear fusion reactor.

Method and apparatus for producing an ultra-high controlled transient

A high intensity spot focus soft X-ray source is described. The source produces a spectrum in the range from about 5 A to 300 A, with maximum power in the neighborhood of tens of angstroms. The flash intensity of the flash source is in the neighborhood of 10.sup.17 X-ray photons per flash. The source has an anode, and a cathode which is spaced apart from the anode and has a protrusion thereon. An insulating body having a passage therethrough is positioned between the anode and the cathode. The passage and the protrusion are axially aligned. At least one viewing port for the passage is provided. A means for maintaining the potential between the anode and the cathode allows the establishment of a potential between the same.

Spot focus flash X-ray source

The present invention describes an ion gun which is capable of producing relatively high density ion currents. The ion gun employs at least one capillary duct the surface of which is semiconducting and has secondary electron emission coefficient greater than one to generate ions from a source of an ionizable material and to accelerate the ions so generated.

Microchannel ion gun

A method and device for the generation of x-rays is described. X-rays can be generated by establishing a high density plasma in a capillary passage and then passing an electron beam therethrough. The device has a cylindrical passage, the ends of which are maintained at a potential difference. An electrode is maintained at the potential and is slightly displaced from the higher potential end. When ions are supplied to the passage, the higher potential end is discharged and a high density plasma is created in the cylindrical passage. The discharge of the higher potential end of the cylindrical passage causes a discharge of the electrode into the passage forming an electron beam which interacts with the plasma, generating x-rays.

Electron beam-capillary plasma flash x-ray device

X-ray generation by stimulated emission of radiation is achieved from an ensemble of energized atoms with inner-shell vacancies, which ensemble of atoms is obtained in one example by the interaction of a beam swept at approximately the speed of light along the length of an extended interactant material providing an active region moving in synchronization with a resonant X-ray pulse traveling along the material.

Growing community of inventors

South Salem, NY, United States of America

Richard A McCorkle