Hamburg, Germany-based MuRay has raised €7 million (US$7.8 million) of funding to commercialize its muon-beam imaging technology.
MuRay’s technology uses a controlled laser-driven muon beam to produce 3D images of an object’s interior.
While x-rays struggle with dense materials and stop at a few centimetres of steel, muons can pass through dense metals, ceramics and composites while keeping a very high resolution.
Muons are subatomic elementary particles similar to electrons, but are more than 200 time heavier. They occur naturally high in the Earth’s atmosphere as cosmic rays, and can be produced artificially by particle accelerators.
Synchotron spinout gathers funding
MuRay has been spun out of German accelerator research center Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). The €7 million funding will be used to build a portable laser-based particle accelerator the size of a shipping container.
MuRay plans to use the container-sized accelerator to deliver non-destructive imaging and inspection services to engineers working with metal 3D printing and in the space, aerospace, defence and energy sectors from early 2027.
MuRay says its technique is also faster than using x-rays, and can reduce measurement times from hours to minutes, enabling manufacturers to check parts for flaws while they are still on the production line. In addition, the technology maps material composition as well as density, meaning it can tell apart materials that look identical on an x-ray, at a lower radiation dose.
The funding is 50-50 private/public, and includes a grant from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
The company is working with DESY, the German Space Agency at DLR, and is partnering with laser technology company Caelora to develop the technology. MuRay has already modelled the inspection of a rocket engine with the German Space Agency at DLR, and plans to carry out its first real-world assessment of an engine in 2027.
The company has said that it will use DESY’s existing electron beam in Hamburg alongside its own imaging system for its first industrial customers. It plans to be exclusively using its own full-scale laser-driven accelerator system in 2029.
Recruitment plans
MuRay is recruiting physicists and engineers in Hamburg to develop the technology and plans to grow to a staff of 25 by the end of this year. Engineers will be working to build the laser-plasma accelerator that produces muons on demand, detectors fast enough to read the flux, and AI algorithms to reconstruct the images.
Dr Andi Hektor, co-founder and co-CEO of MuRay, said, “X-rays reach their limit at a few centimetres of steel, yet much of modern industry, from reusable rockets to gas turbines, is built from metal far thicker than that. Active muon imaging lets manufacturers see inside those large, dense components.”
Dr Kristjan Põder, co-founder and co-CEO, added, “Defects that manufacturers can’t see keep parts out of service for longer than they should be. Our technology helps them find those defects and get components back into service faster. This funding will help us continue proving the physics whilst delivering our first service to industrial customers.”
