a plurality of high atomic number wires are sintered together to form a porous rod that is parted into porous disks which will be used as x - ray targets . a thermally conductive material is introduced into the pores of the rod , and when a stream of electrons impinges on the sintered wire target and generates x - rays , the heat generated by the impinging x - rays is removed by the thermally conductive material interspersed in the pores of the wires .