AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session TR+SS-TuA

Invited Paper TR+SS-TuA3
Nanosecond X-Ray Pulses From Peeling Tape in Vacuum

Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 2:40 pm, Room B2

Session: Surface Science for Tribology
Presenter: S. Putterman, University of California, Los Angeles
Authors: S. Putterman, University of California, Los Angeles
J.V. Escobar, University of California, Los Angeles
C.B. Camara, University of California, Los Angeles
J. Hird, University of California, Los Angeles
Correspondent: Click to Email
That the surface between two interacting bodies can be a source of visible light –triboluminescence- has been known for centuries. Observation of the emission of nanosecond long 100.mW pulses of X-Ray photons from peeling tape indicates that tribological processes reach energy densities which are much greater than the few eV per molecule needed to generate visible photons. Analysis of the x-ray pulses indicates that they originate from micron scale regions near the vertex of peeling tape. Based upon this insight we are building a mechanically operated sub-millimeter x-ray source that can be used for medical imaging. The organized processes which transduce diffuse mechanical energy into x-ray pulses are not understood.