Sydor Instruments partnered with the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) to create the first ROSS streak camera and to commercialize it for other research and defense applications.

The LLE is the site of the OMEGA laser system, a 60-beam laser research facility that is nearly three stories tall and the length of a football field. OMEGA's beams focus intense laser energy onto a target that measures less than one millimeter in diameter in approximately one billionth of a second. Scientists use the OMEGA laser to research High Energy Density Physics (HEDP), and the ROSS streak camera as a critical diagnostic of beam timing and target uniformity, ensuring accuracy and repeatability of the event.

Sydor Instruments, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) will advance a novel one-dimensional microstrip detector for use by synchrotron radiation facilities around the world. Funded by an SBIR phase 1 award, this project will explore a critical barrier to new science: the lack of widespread deployment of a larger area array detectors.

Synchrotron radiation science, critical to understanding the structure of atoms and molecules inside materials, has pioneered breakthroughs in everything from medicine to ipods. The impact of this science today is limited by the availability of advanced detectors — the ability to detect and measure the resultant photons. Sydor’s work with Brookhaven will lead to improved ability to measure and understand the ever-more sophisticated data available, leading to new scientific breakthroughs.