Advanced Instrumentation
Sydor Technologies
Contact

The Evolving Role of Streak Cameras in Modern Scientific Research

From planetary interiors to fusion-relevant materials, scientists are studying matter under conditions that exist for only fractions of a second. At these extreme pressures and temperatures, simply knowing what a sample looked like before and after an experiment is not enough. Researchers need to understand how the event evolves in time.

Recent research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Review of Scientific Instruments, and Nature demonstrates why streak cameras continue to be important tools in modern experimental science, and how Sydor Technologies’ streak camera systems are being used in that work.

ROSS Streak Cameras

Capturing Temperature in Planetary-Science Experiments

A 2024 Study at Carnegie Science’s Earth & Planets Laboratory used a Sydor Technologies’ Streak camera to perform thermal-conductivity measurements to understand how efficiently heat moves through materials. Researchers did this by investigating the thermal conductivity of iron sulfide (FeS) at temperatures relevant to planetary cores, which can provide insight into planetary evolution, including the process associated with Mars’ early magnetic field.

The Evolving Role of Streak Cameras in Modern Scientific Research

 

In this specific experiment, a laser is used to heat the FeS sample extremely quickly. The Sydor streak camera then records its changing thermal emission across a 10 µs window. By tracking how the sample’s temperature changes in extremely narrow time-intervals, researchers can construct temperature histories used in models to calculate thermal conductivity.

In this application, the streak camera is not simply capturing an image, but also providing the time-resolved information needed to determine a fundamental material property.

Measuring Shock Dynamics with VISAR

Line VISAR

An even faster application can be seen at the HED-HIBEF instrument at the European XFEL, where researchers study dynamically compressed matter.

This research is conducted by essentially squeezing materials very quickly and studying how they behave under extreme pressure. To figure out how fast the material is moving during that compression, the facility uses a Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR).

VISAR creates a special light pattern that changes as the surface of the material moves. This pattern passes through an interferometer and is projected onto a streak-camera slit. This streak camera records how the interference pattern changes over time, which allows researchers to calculate how the material’s velocity changes during an experiment, and ultimately allowing them to determine how much pressure the material experiences.

The HED-HIBEF Instrument uses two Sydor Technologies’ ROSS 5800 streak cameras as part of this measurement system. Not only are the camera’s recording the experiment, but they also provide fiber-coupled inputs for timing signals from the drive laser and X-ray pulse.

This helps researchers know exactly when each part of the experiment occurs, even if there are small timing differences between the equipment.

This illustrates an important role of modern streak-camera systems: they can provide both the temporal measurement and the timing reference needed to synchronize multiple diagnostics.

Supporting Research into Liquid Carbon and Fusion-Relevant Materials

The measurement capability of the Sydor Streak Camera became particularly significant in a 2025 Nature study examining liquid carbon under extreme pressure.

The Evolving Role of Streak Cameras in Modern Scientific Research

These conditions are typically found inside planets or created during fusion experiments. In fusion experiments specifically, high-density carbon is often used as a protective outer layer around the fuel. Learning more about how carbon changes when it is rapidly compressed could help researchers improve future fusion target designs.

At HED-HIBEF, researchers used powerful shock waves to rapidly compress glassy carbon while the European XFEL used X-rays diffraction to observe how its atomic structure changed. VISAR captured the shock dynamics and helped determine pressure, allowing researchers to connect the material’s changing structure to the conditions it was experiencing.

The experiment first observed carbon transitioning from an amorphous material to diamond. As the pressure increased further, the diamond began to melt, creating a mixture of solid diamond and liquid carbon. At around 160 GPa, the carbon became completely liquid.

While the Nature paper identifies the diagnostic simply as VISAR, the separate HED-HIBEF instrumentation paper documents Sydor ROSS 5800 systems as part of the facility’s 532 nm VISAR architecture.

Turning Fast Events Into Useful Measurements

These experiments address very different scientific questions, but they share the same challenge: the information researchers need exists for an extremely short period of time.

In the FeS experiment, a streak camera captured temperature histories used to determine thermal conductivity. At HED-HIBEF, streak-camera-based VISAR measured shock velocity and pressure and helped synchronize major experimental systems. Those measurements, in turn, supported research into materials such as liquid carbon under conditions relevant to planetary science and fusion.

As experimental facilities generate more powerful lasers, brighter X-rays and increasingly complex dynamic-compression experiments, accurate time-resolved measurements will remain essential.

For Sydor Technologies, that is where streak camera technology continues to fit into modern science: transforming events that occur over microseconds, nanoseconds and picoseconds into data researchers can use.

Sydor Technologies designs streak camera systems for demanding research environments where timing, resolution, and reliability matter. To learn more about our streak camera technology or discuss the requirements of your application, Contact Us.

Citations: 

Kraus, D., Rips, J., Schörner, M. et al. The structure of liquid carbon elucidated by in situ X-ray diffraction. Nature 642, 351–355 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09035-6

E. Edmund, T. Bi, Z.M. Geballe, K. Brugman, J.-F. Lin, S. Chariton, V.B. Prakapenka, J. Minár, R.E. Cohen, A.F. Goncharov,
Structure and transport properties of FeS at planetary core conditions,
Earth and Planetary Science Letters,
Volume 646,
2024,
118959,
ISSN 0012-821X,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118959.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X24003923)

A. Descamps, T. M. Hutchinson, R. Briggs, E. E. McBride, M. Millot, T. Michelat, J. H. Eggert, B. Albertazzi, L. Antonelli, M. R. Armstrong, C. Baehtz, O. B. Ball, S. Banerjee, A. B. Belonoshko, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, C. A. Bolme, V. Bouffetier, K. Buakor, T. Butcher, V. Cerantola, J. Chantel, A. L. Coleman, J. Collier, G. Collins, A. J. Comley, F. Coppari, T. E. Cowan, C. Crépisson, G. Cristoforetti, H. Cynn, S. Di Dio Cafiso, F. Dorchies, M. J. Duff, A. Dwivedi, D. Errandonea, E. Galtier, H. Ginestet, L. Gizzi, A. Gleason, S. Goede, J. M. Gonzalez, M. G. Gorman, M. Harmand, N. J. Hartley, P. G. Heighway, C. Hernandez-Gomez, A. Higginbotham, H. Höppner, R. J. Husband, H. Hwang, J. Kim, P. Koester, Z. Konopkova, D. Kraus, A. Krygier, L. Labate, A. Laso Garcia, A. E. Lazicki, Y. Lee, P. Mason, M. Masruri, B. Massani, D. McGonegle, C. McGuire, J. D. McHardy, R. S. McWilliams, S. Merkel, G. Morard, B. Nagler, M. Nakatsutsumi, K. Nguyen-Cong, A.-M. Norton, I. I. Oleynik, C. Otzen, N. Ozaki, S. Pandolfi, D. J. Peake, A. Pelka, K. A. Pereira, J. P. Phillips, C. Prescher, T. R. Preston, L. Randolph, D. Ranjan, A. Ravasio, R. Redmer, J. Rips, D. Santamaria-Perez, D. J. Savage, M. Schoelmerich, J-P. Schwinkendorf, S. Singh, J. Smith, R. F. Smith, A. Sollier, J. Spear, C. Spindloe, M. Stevenson, C. Strohm, T-A. Suer, M. Tang, T. Tschentscher, M. Toncian, T. Toncian, S. J. Tracy, M. Tyldesley, C. E. Vennari, T. Vinci, T. J. Volz, J. Vorberger, J. P. S. Walsh, J. S. Wark, J. T. Willman, L. Wollenweber, U. Zastrau, E. Brambrink, K. Appel, M. I. McMahon; Calibration and characterization of the line-VISAR diagnostic at the HED-HIBEF instrument at the European XFEL. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 July 2025; 96 (7): 075206. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0271027