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US 11,101,095 B2Granted
Devices having an electron emitting structure
AssigneeNano-X Imaging Ltd.
InventorsKoichi Iida, Hidenori Kenmotsu, Jun Yamazaki, Hitoshi Masuya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Controlling total emission current of an electron emitting construct in an x-ray emitting device by providing a cathode, providing multiple active areas each active area having a gated cone electron source, including multiple emitter tips arranged in an array, a gate electrode, and a gate interconnect lead connected to the gate electrode, providing an x-ray emitting construct comprising an anode, the anode being an x-ray target, situating the x-ray emitting construct facing the active areas face each other, selecting a set of active areas, and activating selected active areas by conductively connecting a voltage source to their associated the gate electrode interconnect lead.
Claims18
An x-ray emitting device comprising:
- an x-ray emitting construct, an electron emitting construct, at least one spacer, and a voltage source;
- said at least one spacer situated such that the x-ray emitting construct and the electron emitting construct face each other;
- an evacuated inner gap between said x-ray emitting construct and said electron emitting construct;
- said x-ray emitting construct comprising an anode, the anode comprising an x-ray target;
- and
- said electron emitting construct comprising at least one active zone, each active zone of said at least one active zone comprising a plurality of active areas, each active area of the plurality of active areas comprising:
- (a) a cathode;
- (b) a gated cone electron source, comprising a plurality of emitter tips arranged in an array;
- (c) a resistive layer situated between the gated cone electron source, and the cathode;
- and
- (d) a gate electrode comprising a plurality of gate holes having diameters less than 200 nanometers, a position of at least one of said plurality of gate holes corresponding to a position of at least one of said plurality of emitter tips;
- and
- (e) a gate interconnect lead connected to said gate electrode, the gate interconnect lead being configured to selectively connect to the voltage source thereby activating a selected active area of the plurality of active areas;
- wherein each emitter tip of said plurality of emitter tips is configured to emit an electron beam towards the x-ray emitting construct when the gate electrode is connected to said voltage source through said gate interconnect lead such that one or more subsets of said plurality of active areas are activated independently.
11 more elements
An x-ray emitting device comprising:
- an x-ray emitting construct, an electron emitting construct, at least one spacer, a voltage source, and a gate interconnect lead;
- said at least one spacer situated such that the x-ray emitting construct and the electron emitting construe face each other;
- an evacuated inner gap between said x-ray emitting construct and said electron emitting construct;
- said x-ray emitting construct comprising an anode, the anode comprising an x-ray target;
- and
- said electron emitting construct comprising at least one active zone, each active zone of said at least one active zone comprising a plurality of active areas, each active area of the plurality of active areas comprising:
- (a) a cathode;
- (b) a gated cone electron source comprising a plurality of emitter tips arranged in an array;
- (e) a resistive layer situated between the gated cone electron source, and the cathode;
- and
- (d) a gate electrode comprising a plurality of gate holes, a position of at least one of said plurality of gate holes corresponding to a position of at least one of said plurality of emitter tips;
- wherein each emitter tip of said plurality of emitter tips is configured to emit an electron beam towards the x-ray emitting construct when the gate electrode is connected to said voltage source through said gate interconnect lead such that one or more subsets of said plurality of active areas are activated independently such that a total emission current of the electron emitting construct depends upon a controlled activation of one or more of said at least one active zone.
9 more elements
A method for controlling a total emission current of an electron emitting construct in an x-ray emitting device comprising:
- providing a cathode;
- providing a plurality of active areas, each active area of the plurality of active areas having a gated cone electron source comprising:
- a plurality of emitter tips arranged in an array;
- gate electrode;
- and
- a gate interconnect lead connected to said gate electrode, the gate interconnect lead being configured to selectively connect to a voltage source thereby activating an associated active area;
- providing an x-ray emitting construct comprising an anode, the anode comprising an x-ray target;
- situating said x-ray emitting construct facing said plurality of active areas;
- selecting a set of active areas of the plurality of active areas;
- selecting a corresponding set of associated gate interconnect leads associated with the selected set of active areas;
- conductively, connecting a voltage source to the selected corresponding set of associated gate interconnect leads thereby activating the selected set of active areas.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.