INDUSTRY
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ESRF scintillators
are designed for
beamlines , but
Optique Peter
deploys them
into advanced
commercial
microscopes .
For more than three decades the
French company Optique Peter has
been working closely with the ESRF ,
both as a supplier of X - ray imaging
instruments and as a user of cutting -
edge components developed at the
facility . One key example of this
collaboration is Optique Peter ’ s use
of scintillators fabricated at the ESRF
for its commercial X - ray imaging
microscopes .
The scintillators are based on
europium - doped gadolinium –
gallium – garnet ( GGG : Eu ) , grown by
liquid - phase epitaxy on a crystalline
substrate , typically 8 × 8 mm in size ,
with scintillating layer thicknesses
ranging from 3 µ m to 25 µ m . They
trace their origins to the Scintax
programme , a European FP6 - funded
project launched in 2008 that brought
together major research centres –
including the ESRF , the French
Alternative Energies and Atomic
Energy Commission , Germany ’ s
Federal Institute for Materials
Research and Testing , and the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
alongside industrial partners
The goal of Scintax was to develop
high performance scintillators
and imaging systems tailored for
synchrotron based X ray microscopy
Optique Peter was itself a member
of the Scintax consortium and actively
contributed to the development of
X ray imaging microscopes designed
to exploit the advanced scintillators
Following the project the ESRF
continued to refine and supply the
scintillator technology enabling
companies such as Optique Peter
to incorporate it into commercial
instruments .
Today , the ESRF - grown
scintillators are used across Optique
Peter ’ s range of X - ray imaging
microscopes supplied to research
infrastructures and laboratories
worldwide . “ They are much less
fragile than bulk thin scintillators or
ring mounted scintillators , and easier
to clean , ” says Xavier Rochet , the
CEO of Optique Peter . “ Moreover ,
they are more resistant to radiation
than thin scintillators glued onto a
silica substrate
These technical advantages
translate directly into practical
benefits for Optique Peter s
customers The ESRF scintillators
allow us to propose more convenient
solutions when thin scintillators are
needed says Rochet And they have
a longer lifetime when compared with
other technologies
Optique Peter s relationship
with the ESRF dates back to 1993
Scintillating tech transfer
March 2026 ESRFnews
J U L I E N M A T H I E U / E S R F
A GGG : Eu
scintillator
luminesces red
under X - ray
irradiation . Grown
by liquid - phase
epitaxy on a
crystalline substrate
at the ESRF , such
scintillators are less
fragile , more
radiation - proof and
easier to clean than
conventional
scintillators
according to
Optique Peter
encompassing both supply and
co - development activities . In
1997 , Optique Peter delivered its
first monochromatic - beam X - ray
microscope to the ESRF ’ s ID22
beamline . Since then , a total of 28
X - ray imaging microscopes and
related systems have been delivered
to the ESRF , supporting a wide range
of experiments , from tomography
and fast imaging to combined X - ray
imaging with diffraction imaging .
We will continue and are eager to
develop this relationship with the
ESRF says Rochet
Seeing ESRF state of the art
technology translated into key
elements for industrial products is a
gold standard for impact supporting
innovative companies from our
member states with Optique
Peter being a key example says Ed
Mitchell the ESRF head of Business
Development
Jon Cartwright