Company Announcements

ZEISS announced that fiscal 2015 revenues for the year ending September 30, 2015, for the Research & Quality Technology business, consisting of the Industrial Metrology and Microscopy business groups, increased 11.4% to €1,356 million ($1,559 million) to make up 30% of company revenues. Microscopy sales were below expectations.

In January, TESCAN USA appointed Dr. Michal Rabara as president and CEO. Most recently, he served as managing director, Asia, at Gatan.

Full-year 2015 FEI sales fell 2.7% to $930.1 million (see page 12) but grew 2.6% organically. Industry Group sales rose 1.0% organically to make up 48% of revenues due to weak oil and gas demand. Science Group sales grew 4.1% organically to make up 52%, led by a strong fourth quarter 2015 for high-resolution system sales to structural and cell biology customers, especially in Europe. Adjusted operating profit grew 16.2% to $181.3 million. For 2016, FEI organic sales are projected to grow 3.5%–6.5%.

Leica Microsystems and the Biomedical Center of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany, announced in February the inauguration of a bioimaging core facility for applied cell research. Leica will use the facility as a reference and demo center, its largest in Europe.

Product Introductions

In December, Park Systems launched the NX10 SICM Module, which integrates scanning ion–conductance microscopy with AFM for in-liquid imaging.

Leica Microsystems introduced the HyVolution true confocal super-resolution technology for the Leica TCS SP8 confocal microscopy platform, extending its imaging portfolio in the subdiffraction regime. It offers multicolor super resolution down to 140 nm.

Bruker released the Vutara 352 quantitative super-resolution microscope. It is now compatible with the Opterra multipoint confocal microscope.

Bruker launched in January the MultiMode 8-HR AFM, with new nanomechanics features that enable researchers to access the broadest range of ramp frequencies for viscoelastic studies and nanomechanical assessment of a wide range of materials.

In December 2015, JPK Instruments introduced the NanoWizard 4 NanoScience AFM, featuring a fast scanning option and the QI mode for quantitative imaging and a CryoStage option.

MikroMasch released the OPUS AFM tips, which enable precise tip positioning on the sample to be measured.

JEOL launched in January the JEM-F200 multipurpose TEM, featuring a new easy-to-use operation system and the SPECPORTER to facilitate loading and unloading of the specimen holder. The annual sales target is 40 units.

FEI released the PerGeos digital rock software for oil and gas exploration and production. It helps geoscientists interpret and model digital rock imagery.