Skip to Main Content A+  | A  | A- 
RRCAT_Indore Government of India | Department of Atomic Energy
Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology 		RRCAT_Indore

Industry Liaison Cell

Synchrotron techniques provide unparalleled capabilities for probing materials at atomic and molecular scales, enabling precise structural, chemical, and morphological characterization. The Indus Synchrotron Radiation Facility is a premier national research facility housing two indigenously developed highly brilliant radiation sources that function as national user facility for researchers across academia and industry:

  1. Indus-1: A 450 MeV/125mA storage ring that produces Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) and soft X-ray radiation.

  2. Indus-2: A 2.5 GeV/200mA storage ring—the largest and highest-energy particle accelerator in India—optimized for high-brilliance X-ray research with hard X-ray energies up to ~40 keV.

The Indus Synchrotron Facility offers a powerful suite of non-destructive, high-resolution, rapid in-situ, real-time imaging and analytical methods. These capabilities allow detailed extraction of elemental, structural, and chemical information from a diverse range of materials.

Various techniques are available at Indus-1 and Indus-2 beamlines. These include: X-ray diffraction (XRD), small- and wide-angle scattering (SAXS/WAXS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS: XANES/EXAFS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray tomography (XCT).

These facilities provide insights into material structure, composition, and performance under realistic conditions—often beyond the reach of conventional laboratory tools—thereby supporting innovation, quality assurance, and advanced R&D across multiple industrial sectors.

Pharmaceutical Sector
  • Identification of correct crystal forms (polymorphs) of drugs
  • Drug composition and formulation
  • Drug–excipient interactions
  • Drug stability and bio-availability
Benefit: Attain regulatory compliance, reducing development time and manufacturing risks.

Petrochemical Industry:
  • Analysis of catalysts
  • In-situ catalyst behaviour, deactivation etc.
Benefit: Extension of catalyst life and improved fuel quality

Advanced Materials & Industrial Manufacturing
  • Non-destructive testing of materials and components
  • Characterization of internal stresses, coatings, and thin films
Benefit: Improved product reliability and reduces component failure rates, and help development of advanced materials and components.


Battery & Energy Storage
  • Electrode composition and structural changes
  • In-situ studies on degradation mechanisms
  • Internal interfaces and trace elements
Benefit: Improved battery life, energy density, and safety and support next-generation battery development.

Agriculture
  • Nutrients and trace elements in soil and crops
  • 3D structure of food products and seeds
  • Pesticide residues and chemical composition
Benefit: Enhanced food safety and crop quality with bio-fortification and agricultural productivity can be improved.

Chemical Industry
  • Chemical reaction mechanisms, surface interactions
  • Photochemical (light-driven) studies
  • Catalyst design
Benefit: Process optimization, better catalyst design, reduced waste, and sustainable (green) chemical production.

Mining / Geological & Metallurgy
  • Minerals, and ores composition
  • Trace elements and internal structures
  • Defects, cracks, and corrosion in metals
Benefit: Improved resource evaluation and metal quality and optimized extraction and processing.

Industry Liaison Cell

The Industry Liaison Cell at the Indus Synchrotron facility serves as a dedicated interface for facilitating seamless engagement between industry and the Indus Synchrotron Facility. We work closely with industry partners to align scientific investigations with their specific objectives, ensuring efficient and impact-ful outcomes. The liaison team enables streamlined, confidential, and client-funded route for industrial users. Experiments are customized to address specific technical challenges while ensuring complete data confidentiality.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) can be established promptly to safeguard intellectual property.

The cell helps in managing the entire workflow including:
  • Experiment planning and feasibility assessment
  • Beam-time coordination and execution
  • Data analysis

Users are encouraged to visit the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology to conduct experiments in collaboration with beamline scientists. This mode allows direct involvement in experiments along with expert guidance and post-experiment support.

OR

Users can send samples to the facility, and experiments are carried out by experts and the processed data is delivered.

Beamtime Access Procedure

Participants are required to submit their proposal/requirements to the Industry Liaison Cell for discussion on experimental feasibility, budgetary estimates, and NDA requirements.

  • Feasibility Review: Upon confirmation of feasibility, participants will be guided further in consultation with the concerned beamline scientist. The estimate of the time required for the proposed experiment will be provided by the beamline scientist in form of a quotation with charges at Rs 7500/- per beamline per hour.

  • Beamtime Booking: Approved users shall book beam-time through the Indus web portal in coordination with the beamline scientist. Priority may be accorded to industrial users.

  • Experiment Execution: Users may either visit Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology during the approved schedule or send samples via Speed post only.

  • Safety Compliance: Mandatory radiation and industrial safety training will be provided to all users on arrival to Indus facility.

  • Billing: After the experiment a document stating the actual hours for the experiment will be prepared and approved by both the beamline scientist and the user and an invoice will be generated accordingly.

  • Data Delivery: The user will be required to transfer the amount to RRCAT account. After the complete payment the data will be shared in a mutually agreed format, subject to NDA terms, if applicable.
Contact:

Industry User Cell: industryusercell[at]rrcat[dot]gov[dot]in

Phone: 0731-244-2101/2140

Fax: 0731-2442140

Web: https://www.rrcat.gov.in/technology/accel/indus/ind_lias_cell_indus.html

General safety practices and security procedures at Indus complex, RRCAT:
  1. All the users will be permitted inside RRCAT office campus as per the extant security rules of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The procedure involves making of an entry permit for working at Indus beamlines.

  2. Users are strictly prohibited to carry the following items inside RRCAT premises: communication devices, photography/videography devices, firearms, explosives, sharp harmful objects, narcotic/toxic/hazardous substances, engineering drawings/designs or any other item, that is not required for carrying out the experiments.

  3. A separate permission for taking in and bringing out samples for experiments, laptops and data storage devices is required and the user is advised to get in touch with the beamline scientists for the same.

  4. It should however be noted that the final permission for entry to RRCAT is at the discretion of the security personnel at RRCAT guard house and are subject to DAE security directives issued from time to time .

  5. The user should contact the Indus office after entering the Indus complex. He/she will be asked to take the short duration radiation and industrial safety briefing and training. After its successful completion, the user goes to the scheduled beamline with the TLD/DRD batch issued to him by the health physicist.

  6. The TLD/DRD must be returned to the health physicist in the Indus control room before leaving Indus facility.

  7. Indus experimental hall entry access card is issued at Indus security post. It should be deposited at the same place while leaving the Indus complex.

  8. While inside the Indus complex, the user is expected to be at the allocated beamline only.

  9. Being a laboratory of the Department of Atomic Energy, the provisions under the Atomic Energy Act, Section 19, related to the "Prevention of entry into prohibited areas" are applicable for RRCAT.
Best viewed in 1024x768 resolution