Anode shield

1. An anode, comprising:

a substrate including a substrate material, comprising:

a first portion with a first cross-sectional dimension, a first surface, and a side surface, and

a second portion with a second cross-sectional dimension greater than the first cross-sectional dimension and a second surface,

wherein the side surface extends between the first surface and the second surface;

a target including a target material attached to the first surface of the first portion of the substrate; and

an anode shield including a shield material attached to the second surface of the second portion of the substrate, wherein;

the substrate material differs from the target material and the shield material; and

the anode shield covers less than all of the side surface.

2. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the target is brazed to the first portion of the substrate, and the anode shield is brazed to the second portion of the substrate.

3. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the anode shield is an annular elliptical cylinder, an elliptical cylindrical shell, or a hollow elliptical conical frustum.

4. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the first portion and the second portion of the substrate form elliptic cylinders with substantially parallel surfaces.

5. The anode of claim 1 , wherein:

a planar target surface of the target is substantially parallel to a planar shield surface of the anode shield; or

the first surface of the first portion of the substrate is a planar first portion surface that is substantially orthogonal to the side surface of the first portion.

6. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the first surface of the first portion of the substrate has:

an angle (Φ) between 85° and 95° with the side surface of the first portion; or

an angle (Φ n ) less than 90° with the side surface of the first portion.

7. The anode of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the target material is:

greater than a thickness of the shield material; or

greater than 20 microns.

8. The anode of claim 1 , wherein:

the substrate material comprises copper (Cu), silver (Ag), pyrolytic carbon or pyrolytic graphite, or combinations thereof; and

the target material and the shield material each comprises scandium (Sc), titanium (Ti), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), tungsten (W), platinum (Pt), niobium carbide (NbC or Nb 2 C), tantalum carbide (TaC x ), or combinations thereof.

9. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the target material and the shield material comprise substantially the same material.

10. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the target material and the shield material have a K-alpha 1 (Kα 1 ) energy level 1.5 times greater than the K-alpha 1 energy level of the substrate material.

11. An x-ray tube, comprising:

a vacuum enclosure including an x-ray transmissive window covering an opening in the vacuum enclosure;

a cathode assembly disposed within the vacuum enclosure, the cathode assembly including an electron source configured to emit electrons; and

the anode of claim 1 disposed within the vacuum enclosure, the anode configured to generate x-rays from electrons striking the target.

12. The x-ray tube of claim 11 , wherein the cathode assembly further comprises a focusing electrode including a substantially geometrically continuous surface facing the first portion and the second portion of the substrate.

13. The x-ray tube of claim 11 , wherein the opening in the vacuum enclosure has an opening cross-sectional dimension within 20% of the second cross-sectional dimension of the second portion.

14. A method of manufacturing an anode, the method comprising:

providing a substrate including a substrate material;

forming a first portion of the substrate with a first cross-sectional area, a first surface, and a side surface;

forming a second portion of the substrate with a second cross-sectional area greater than the first cross-sectional area and a second surface, wherein the side surface extends between the first surface and the second surface;

brazing a target including a target material to the first surface of the first portion of the substrate; and

brazing an anode shield including a shield material to a the second surface of the second portion such that the anode shield covers less than all of the side surface.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the first portion and the second portion of the substrate includes machining the first portion to a smaller cross-sectional dimension than the second portion.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein brazing the anode shield includes adding a braze material to adhere the substrate to the anode shield.

17. An anode, comprising:

a target means including a target material for generating x-rays when electrons strike the target means;

a substrate means including a substrate material for supporting the target means and conducting heat away from the target means, wherein the substrate means has a first cross-sectional dimension smaller than a second cross-sectional dimension; and

an anode shielding means including a shield material for blocking backscatter x-rays generated from the second cross-sectional dimension non-overlapping with the first cross-sectional dimension of the substrate means without blocking backscatter x-rays generated from a portion of the substrate means between the target means and the anode shielding means, wherein the substrate material differs from the target material and the shield material.

18. The anode of claim 17 , wherein the substrate material of the substrate means has a melting point greater than 900° C. or a thermal conductivity greater than 300 W/(m·K).

19. The anode of claim 17 , wherein the target material and the shield material have a K-alpha 1 (Kα 1 ) energy level 50% greater than the K-alpha 1 energy level of the substrate material.

20. The anode of claim 17 , wherein a thickness of the shield material blocks over 99% of K radiation emitted from the substrate material of the anode shielding means.