InXitu
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | X-ray instrumentation, scientific instruments |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Philippe Sarrazin |
| Defunct | November 2011 |
| Fate | Acquired by Olympus |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California , United States |
Key people | Bradley Boyer (President and CEO from 2008) |
| Products | Portable X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments (Terra, Duetto, BTX, BTX-II) |
inXitu was a company based in Mountain View, California, that specialized in developing portable instruments for X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Its name was derived from blending in situ with X-ray, highlighting its dedication to mobile X-ray examination directly at material locations.
Company history
The origins of inXitu trace back to 2003 when Philippe Sarrazin worked alongside NASA to patent methods used in the CheMin instrument aboard the Mars Curiosity rover. After departing NASA, Sarrazin founded inXitu Research and obtained two Small Business Innovation Research grants from Ames Research Center in 2004 aimed at enhancing CheMin technology. In 2007, a merger between inXitu Research and Microwave Power Technology (MPT) combined MPT’s expertise in high vacuum research and development with inXitu’s proficiency in XRD, resulting in the formation of inXitu, Inc. Early 2008 saw the launch of Terra, a commercially available field-portable XRD/XRF device. Bradley Boyer assumed the role of President and CEO in September of that year.
By December 2008, inXitu had entered a partnership with Innov-X to produce XRD instruments marketed under the Innov-X brand. The same year, collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute led to the development of X-Duetto, a compact, non-invasive XRD/XRF system designed for art conservation purposes; this product was introduced commercially as Duetto by mid-2009. Furthermore, mid-2009 marked the release of BTX, a desktop XRD/XRF instrument derived from Terra technology, followed by its updated model, BTX-II, which became available in early 2010.
In November 2011, Olympus completed the acquisition of inXitu.