Experimental research on the feature of an x-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer versus tube accelerating voltage

X-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer has been used most widely to perform x-ray phase-contrast imaging with a conventional low-brilliance x-ray source,and it yields high-sensitivity phase and dark-field images of samples producing low absorption contrast,thus bearing tremendous potential for future clinical diagnosis.In this work,by changing the accelerating voltage of the x-ray tube from 35 k V to 45 k V,x-ray phase-contrast imaging of a test sample is performed at each integer value of the accelerating voltage to investigate the characteristic of an x-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer(located in the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials,Tohoku University,Japan) versus tube voltage.Experimental results and data analysis show that within a range this x-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer is not sensitive to the accelerating voltage of the tube with a constant fringe visibility of ～ 44%.This x-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer research demonstrates the feasibility of a new dual energy phase-contrast x-ray imaging strategy and the possibility to collect a refraction spectrum.