Sydor Technologies Receives $5.3M Through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts from the Department of Energy (DOE)

ROCHESTER, N.Y., [JUNE 21, 2018] – Sydor Technologies, a global provider of advanced x-ray detectors and diagnostic instrumentation for the energy, research, and defense industries, announced today that it has been awarded two separate Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts totaling $5.3M. The company received $4,343,197 for the Phase II commercialization of Sydor’s MM-PAD technology. Sydor also received a Phase IIA award of $1,000,000 to extend the functionality of Sydor’s Keck-PAD x-ray detector. Both of these unique detector PAD designs were developed by Dr. Sol Gruner’s team in the Department of Physics at Cornell University and now are being commercialized by Sydor.

The Sydor MM-PAD is unique in that it maintains an ultra-wide dynamic range of 10e8 while maintaining single-photon sensitivity in the x-ray energy ranges typically used for crystallography. This is required for applications such as diffractive and time-resolved scattering experiments, where some energy coming into the sensor is extremely intense, yet adjacent areas need to measure very weak signals. For applications requiring larger area arrays, Sydor developed and provides a tileable architecture. Under the MM-PAD contract, Sydor will deploy a new data path architecture, implement a prototype detector, document beamline testing, and execute the commercial release of the detector.

The Sydor Keck-PAD is a novel detector that can measure tender to hard x-rays, in eight sequential frames, at a unique 6.6 MHz frame rate. When this speed is coupled to the low-noise and high-dynamic range this detector becomes the most capable sensor available for irreversible experiments that destroy the material under test. Under the phase IIA contract Sydor will complete the field testing and optimization of the current design while developing advance manufacturing techniques for volume production.

Of these awards, Mark Katafiaz, Vice-President of US Operations, states “Sydor is very pleased to continue on the development and commercialization of these detectors with Professor Gruner and the licensing team at Cornell University. There is strong demand to provide these devices for the newer beamlines that have ever stronger and faster pulses. The detectors are required for scientist to see the features these powerful beamlines can generate. Sydor’s role in commercializing this new science from Cornell University is very exciting. We are expanding and adding significant capabilities to our production to match the requirements of this market.”