A device for generating X-rays by accelerating electrons to a high energy by an electrostatic field and making them strike a metal target either in a tube containing a low-pressure gas or, as in modern tubes, in a high vacuum. The target is made from a heavy metal, usually tungsten, and is backed by a massive metal anode to conduct the heat away (see illustration showing a liquid-cooled copper anode). The electron beam is produced by heating the cathode by means of a white-hot tungsten filament. A transformer supplies the high voltage, often 100 kV, the tube acting as its own rectifier. On the half-cycles when the target is negative nothing happens. When the target becomes positive, the electrons bombarding it generate X-rays.
X-ray tube