Moving to beryllium electrodes makes sense with respect to reduced SXR attenuation and therefore reduced erosion, but the problem is going to shift to erosion of the electrodes by the high current filaments. I wonder if any thought has been given to plating the high risk SXR locations with beryllium. What kind of beryllium thickness is needed to protect any underlying layer? It seems that these electrodes are long lead time and very costly. Tungsten (maybe even 2% thoriated) is definitely the best best with respect to high current.
