Characterization of a radiographic system with broad energy band X-ray source

High energy X-ray beams with broad band energy spectra allow performing radiographic analysis on different materials and objects of relevant interest that cannot be investigated with conventional X-ray sources. The quality of a radiographic image strongly depends on the characteristics of the radiation source as the size of the X-ray emitting area, or focal spot, and the energy spectrum of the radiation. In this work the characterization of a broad-band energy bremsstrahlung source obtained from a linac providing a 5.5MeV electron beam colliding with a tungsten target is presented. In order to measure the focal-spot size an ad hoc slit camera has been designed and built and a specific technique was used. Furthermore an analysis of the energy spectrum of the beam was performed using a method based on X-ray diffraction by a mosaic crystal