Italy: Spectris, the company that owns Panalytical, has acquired Pixirad, a technology company that develops and distributes X-ray detectors. The business will be integrated into Panalytical within Spectris’ Materials Analysis division.
Pixirad was established in 2012 under the spin-off programme of the Instituto Nationale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN). The detector technology was originally developed through research into advanced particle physics and space research technologies and has been improved by Pixirad for use with high energetic X-rays. Before the purchase, Panalytical solds the Pixirad detectors as a high-end option for its Empyrean X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument used for various materials analysis applications. Following the acquisition the combination of Pixirad’s technology with Panalytical’s experience in products using X-ray detectors is expected to allow expansion of the range applications addressed by existing and future instruments.