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Rigaku Corporation is an international manufacturer and distributor of scientific, analytical and industrial instrumentation specializing in X-ray related technologies, including X-ray crystallography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), automation, cryogenics and X-ray optics.
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Locations
Rigaku is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with additional production, research and laboratory facilities located in both Japan and the United States. Subsidiaries in North America include Rigaku Americas Corporation (The Woodlands, Texas, United States), Applied Rigaku Technologies (Austin, Texas, USA) and Rigaku Innovative Technologies (Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States). European branches are located in Sevenoaks (Kent),UK, Ettlingen, Germany, Prague, Czech Republic and Poland [Wrocław] .
History
1951 Rigaku was founded by Dr. Yoshihiro Shimura.
1952 The core innovation of the company was the introduction of the world's first commercially available rotating anode X-ray generator.
1954 Rigaku introduced the first automatic-recording X-ray diffractometer.
1976 Rigaku developed the first parallel-beam type X-ray diffractometer for stress analysis, as well as the first X-ray fluorescence spectrometers capable of carbon analysis (1976) and boron analysis (1981).
Today, the company is led by Mr. Hikaru P. Shimura (President & CEO).