Enhancing heat transfer in X-ray tube by van der heterostructures-based thermionic emission

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that van der Waals heterostructure-based thermionic emission can significantly improve heat transfer in X-ray tubes, reducing overheating and enabling higher power operation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of vdW heterostructures for thermionic cooling to address overheating in high-power X-ray tubes.

Findings

Target temperature reduced from 1200°C to 490°C

Enhanced thermionic cooling by reducing Schottky barrier height

Potential for developing high-power X-ray tubes

Abstract

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have attracted much attention due to their distinctive optical, electrical, and thermal properties, demonstrating promising potential in areas such as photocatalysis, ultrafast photonics, and free electron radiation devices. Particularly, they are promising platforms for studying thermionic emission. Here, we illustrate that using vdW heterostructure-based thermionic emission can enhance heat transfer in vacuum devices. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate that this approach offers a promising solution to the long-standing overheating issue in X-ray tubes. Specifically, we show that the saturated target temperature of a 2000 W X-ray tube can be reduced from around 1200 celsius to 490 celsius. Additionally, our study demonstrates that by reducing the height of the Schottky barrier formed in the vdW heterostructures, the thermionic cooling performance can be enhanced. Our findings pave the way for the development of high-power X-ray tubes.