Micro computed tomography system based on field emission x-ray source with carbon nanotube emitter

The properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) show a variety of application possibilities in the next generation industries. Among them, application to a field emission device is expected due to a high emission current at a low critical electric field. Compared with conventional thermionic emission X-ray sources, field emission X-ray sources have many advantages. Their electric field can be turned on and off quickly, minimizing radiation exposure times. Additionally, the size of the imaging system can be reduced because no cooling device is required. Using these advantages, we created a micro computed tomography (CT) system based on a CNT field emission X-ray source. The main advantages of the micro- CT lie in the high-spatial resolution, sensitivity to skeletons and lungs, and low cost. We optimized the field emission characteristics of the CNTs and the system geometry for high resolution.