Initial estimation of the dose rates in a polycapillary focused X-ray beam based on determining the beam parameters

•Determination of the focused X-ray beam parameters is presented.•Beam intensity is derived using a method based on detecting characteristic X-rays.•Dose rates are derived from the established fluence rates.

This paper deals with estimating the dose rates achieved in materials irradiated by X-rays from an X-ray tube equipped with polycapillary focusing optics. The proposed method consists of determining the main parameters of the X-ray beam, e.g. the shape of the spectrum, the beam intensity, and the beam profile. All these parameters were obtained with a single spectrometric detector, and they were then employed in evaluating the dose rate. The maximum achievable dose rates in iron and water were determined analytically, and a numeric calculation using the Monte Carlo method provided the depth distribution of the energy deposited in these two materials.