Patent ID: 7580440

Claim:
A device for emission of electromagnetic radiation, comprising: a source of atomic particles; and a collector disposed to receive atomic particles from the source across a gap, the collector comprising an emission medium, the medium comprising a crystal having a spatial dimension in the range from about 10 nanometers to about 50 micrometers, wherein the emission medium has the capability to generate opposing charge pairs upon absorption of atomic particles from the source and to emit electromagnetic radiation upon recombination of the pairs, wherein the emission medium comprises a plurality of crystals, wherein each crystal has a spatial dimension in the range from about 10 nanometers to about 50 micrometers, wherein the plurality comprises an array of the crystals, wherein the array is disposed such that substantially all of the crystals in the array share a common plane, wherein the array is an ordered array having an inter-crystal spacing that is a multiple of the radius of gyration of the crystal area projected onto the common plane, the multiple in the range from about 0.5 to about 10.