[News] Rigaku Wins Bronze at Pittcon Today Innovation Awards for XSPA-200 ER Detector

Rigaku is proud to announce that our XSPA-200 ER detector has been awarded the Bronze Award in the Over $10 Million Sales category at the 2025 Pittcon Today Excellence Awards. Recognized for its breakthrough in X-ray diffraction (XRD) technology, the XSPA-200 ER brings high-end performance to an affordable benchtop format for the first time.

Al Larsen (Account Manager, Rigaku Americas) receiving the award

The XSPA-200 ER is the first pixel array detector for benchtop XRD systems to combine high energy resolution with true 2D detection. This capability—previously only found in large, high-cost instruments—enables users to suppress background fluorescence from transition metals, which significantly improves sensitivity when detecting trace phases. The detector was developed for use with the Rigaku MiniFlex system and is particularly impactful in fields such as materials science, metallurgy, and battery research, where precise phase identification is critical. 

Winners of the Pittcon Today Excellence Awards were selected by a panel of judges from academia and leading industry publications. Products had to launch after January 2024 and demonstrate true innovation, not just incremental improvement. Judges evaluated entries based on creativity, implementation, and projected global impact. 

The Rigaku team is honored to receive this recognition and looks forward to continuing to make high-performance analytical tools more accessible to scientists and engineers around the world.