A powerful, compact and repetitive nanosecond pulsed source of X-ray photons named SPHINX (Source de Photons Impulsionnelle Nanoseconde X) has been developed for a large field of applications including scientific and industrial research. The flash X-ray device is based upon high voltage fast discharge, in vacuum or in low gas pressure, obtained by a cable transformer which is powered by ceramic knob capacitors disposed in a Blumlein-like configuration and switched by a triggered spark gap. The X-ray emission from a low impedance X-ray diode with a hollow cathode - pointed anode configuration was observed under a wide range of experimental conditions (charging voltage, repetition rate, electrodes material and geometry, anode-cathode separation gap, diode vacuum pressure, and nature of gas). Doses up to 1 mR* per shot, measured at 1 m from the source, of X-rays between 5 and 100 ke V can be generated. The X-ray pulse width (fwhm) is of the order of twenty nanoseconds and the repetition rate is 50 Hz. The system can operate in air or in other gases at pressures varying from 10-3 mbar for xenon to about 1 mbar for helium. The SPHINX generator is presented in a metallic box for EMI protection and easy carrying. The volume and the weight are 0.1 m3 and 45 kg respectively, including HV power supply, pumping and air cooling systems. This source is a conventionally wall-plug table top device.
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