X-ray tube and a conditioning method thereof
The X-ray tube disclosed herein includes an electron emission unit including an electron emission element using a cold cathode; an anode unit disposed opposite to the electron emission unit, with which electrons emitted from the electron emission unit collide; and a focus structure disposed between the electron emission unit and a target unit disposed on a surface of the anode unit that is opposed to the electron emission unit. The electron emission unit is divided into a first region and a second region which can independently be turned ON/OFF. The X-ray tube is focus-designed such that collision regions, at the anode unit, of electron beams emitted from the respective first region and second region substantially coincide with each other.
1. An X-ray tube comprising:
an electron emission unit comprising a cold cathode,
wherein the electron emission unit is divided into a first region A and a second region B, and
wherein the electron emission unit is formed in a square shape, and the first region A comprises a square in a center of the electron emission unit that it inclined at 45 degrees to edges of the emission unit, and the second region B comprises four corners of the electron emission unit surrounding the first region A;
an anode unit comprising a target unit disposed opposite to the electron emission unit, with which electrons emitted from the electron emission unit collide;
a focus structure disposed between the electron emission unit and the target unit disposed on a surface of the anode unit that is opposed to the electron emission unit;
a first transistor TA connected to the first region A;
a second transistor TB connected to the second region B; and
a controller configured to turn ON/OFF the first region A and the second region B independently by selectively maintaining ON and OFF gate-cathode potentials in the first transistor TA and the second transistor TB respectively, and
wherein collision regions at the anode unit of electron beams emitted from the first region A and the second region B substantially coincide with each other.
2. The X-ray tube according to claim 1 , wherein
the first region A comprises a center region, and
the second region B comprises one or more peripheral regions surrounding the center region.
3. The X-ray tube according to claim 2 , wherein an area of the center region and a total area of the one or more peripheral regions are substantially equal to each other.