Filament Flasher

A filament flasher is a system wherein the tungsten filament of an X-ray tube cathode assembly is resistively heated in a reducing environment to its recrystallization temperature. These filaments may take the form of helical wires or planar serpentine ribbons. The flashing process relieves any residual strain in the material and promotes grain growth, resulting in a stiffer structure this ensures that the filament will not move later in actual use, a key factor in the quality of the focal spot produced by the tube.