The VSX as a laboratory soft x-ray source for scientific analyses

For a number of years, ALFT Inc. has developed a laboratory soft X-ray source for the many analyses that are now being carried out at synchrotron locations. It is a Vacuum Spark source (VSX). The source is a pulsed point plasma emitting pulses of soft X-rays around 1 keV or 10 Angstroms wavelength. The average power is 728 mW in the VSX 700 machine. In terms of photon flux, it emits an average of 1015 photons/sec, with peak flux of 1018 photons/sec. Being a thermal source, the radiation is divergent. Because of its divergence, the source can be used along different directions, 4 beams being now part of the present commercial machine. This laboratory tool has been thoroughly developed to the point that it reliably runs continuously without deterioration of power or spectral purity. The plasma can be generated from among many elements, copper and tungsten being two of the presently used. A more powerful source, the VSX Z10, of 10 Watts average power, has been also developed by ALFT Inc. and has now reached the prototype stage. It is again a thermal divergent plasma source emitting in excess of 1016 photons/sec with peak flux of 1024 photons/sec. Sources in the 50 Watts range are now being considered for further development.