ABSTRACT

Figure  6.1 shows visible light from the vicinity of a hot X-ray focal spot, the epicenter of an X-ray system. ermal management is the key task in X-ray generation. As discussed in Chapter 2, just about 1% of the electron energy is converted into X-ray energy by inelastic scattering of electrons at

atomic  nuclei. e low total conversion factor, further multiplied with the small ratio of used versus generated X-rays, results in a total eciency ratio in the order of 10−4. A tube for computed tomography generates as much light intensity as a single consumer LED but needs an input in the order of 100 kW. us, tube engineering is primarily organizing heat dissipation. Excessive heating already limited the performance of Conrad Roentgen’s rst glass tube in Figure 1.1.