The director of SENER director in Catalonia, Òscar Julià, and the director of the ALBA Synchrotron, Caterina Biscari, have signed a contract that lets SENER to commercialize a new method to bend X-ray mirrors. This system, developed at the ALBA Synchrotron, includes more functions than others available in the market. Its main advantage is that it can reduce mirror's deformation errors, in a stable and controlled way, to values 10 times below the present time existing technologies.
The system has successfully been tested at the ALBA beamlines. When X-rays reach the beamlines, the mirrors are in charge of focusing the X-ray beam on the sample to analyse. This is why mirrors need to be polished into an elliptical shape. The better polished the mirror’s surface is the better the experiments results will be. The X-ray mirror nanobender developed by the ALBA Synchrotron include correctors that compensate the errors on the mirror's polish. Inside synchrotron light sources and free electrons lasers, this new system allows to improve the light beam optics, which implies a higher quality of the scientific results obtained.
After signing the agreement, Òscar Julià has declared: "This technology to be commercilse by SENER represents a competitive advantage in comparison to the current alternatives at a reasonable cost. SENER is a prominent actor in the aerospace sector where its capacity and experience in optomecanics, with applications in space or terrestrial astronomy. The signature of this contract confirms the participation and interest of SENER in the market of the synchrotron radiation facilities, with good perspectives for a global demand. Apart from the future needs of mirrors, both from ALBA Synchrotron and worldwide, we are investigating new possible applications outside this market". During Caterina Biscari intervention, she thanked all the ALBA staff who wer einvolved in the projecte and she also positively valued the interest of SENER in the technology developed at ALBA.
With developments like this one, the ALBA Synchrotron contributes to the competitiveness and innovation of the business sector. "Our goal is to profit from ALBA's technological needs to be also useful for industry an dsociety", stated Alejandro Sánchez, director of ALBA's industrial office. Guy Molenat, on behalf of the Barcelona Synchrotron Park (BSP), has been very satisfied for the agreement between both entities which are startegical for the BSP". On the other hand, Joan Manel Casalta, business development director for astronomy and science at SENER, highlighted that "the company remains loyal to its compromise to search and invest in innovative technological solutions in collaboration with research institutions". The X-ray mirror nanobender is part of the portfolio of high technology optic instrumentation of SENER, which includes projects such as the high performance and resolution camera of the Spanish satellite SEOSAT/Ingenio, where SENER is the main contractor, and opto-mecanic systems for the telescopes T250 from OAJ (Observatorio Astronómico de Jalambre), E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope), the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC) and VLT (Very Large Telescope); and the X-ray spectrometer installed at the CLAESS beamline at ALBA.
At the picture, both directors signing the contract. Next, photo group of all the persons involved in the project.
About SENER
SENER is a private group of engineering and technology funded in 1956, which offers to its clients the more advanced technological solutions and has international recognition thanks to its independence and compromise with innovation and quality. SENER relies on more than 5.500 professionals from its centres in Argelia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Chile, China, Colombia, The united Arab Emirates, Spain, United states, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and United Kingdom. The group's exploitation incomes reach the 1.300 millions of euros (data from 2014).
SENER's activities belong to the Engineering and Construction fields, including industrial participations in companies working in the fields of Energy and Environment or Aeronautics. In the Engineering and Construction field, SENER has been positioned as a global reference enterprise in the Aerospatiale, Infrastructures and transports, Energy and Processes and Naval sectors.
