Analytical x-ray tube with high thermal performance

An X-ray tube comprising:

• a target anode upon which an electron beam is incident, the target anode comprising a target material that emits characteristic X-rays in response to excitation by the electron beam;
• a diamond substrate upon which the target anode is located;
• and
• an interface layer located between the target material and substrate, the interface layer comprising a material having an acoustic impedance Zi that closely matches a geometric mean √{square root over (Z1Z2)} of the acoustic impedance of the target material Z1 and the acoustic impedance of the diamond substrate Z2, such that Zi/√{square root over (Z1Z2)} is between 0.75 and 1.5.

An X-ray tube comprising:

• a target anode comprising a target material having a relatively low thermal conductivity that emits characteristic X-rays in response to excitation by an electron beam;
• a diamond substrate upon which the target anode is located;
• and
• a heat dissipation layer between the diamond substrate and the target material, the heat dissipation layer having a thermal conductivity at least twice as high as a thermal conductivity of the target material.