Radiation Sources: X-Ray Sources

X-ray was the name given by W. C. Roentgen (Figure 1(a)) to the highly penetrating rays which emanated when high energy electrons struck a metal target. On November 8, 1895 he noted for the first time this phenomena and on December 28, 1895 Roentgen astonished the scientific world with his preliminary report 'Ueber eine neue Art von Strahlen' given to the president of the Wurzburg Physical-Medical Society, accompanied by experimental radiographs and by the X-ray image of his wife's hand (Figure 1(b)). A few weeks later C.H.F. Muller was able to construct in his Hamburg factory the first commercial X-ray tube for one of local hospital. This was a milestone of what was become a major technical industry. X-ray technology is one of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century. It plays a major role in our daily life. X-rays are nowadays one of the most powerful tools to investigate hard and soft matter hence the necessity to develop new sources to achieve more high intensity beams.