Company Announcements

Leica Microsystems announced in July the establishment of direct operations to serve the US states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

In July, Asylum Research appointed Advanced Technological Solutions as its exclusive distributor in Israel.

Product Introductions

Nanosurf introduced in June the NaioSTM (scanning tunneling microscope) for nanoeducation. The successor to the Easyscan 2 STM, it integrates scan head, controller and vibration platform.

FEI launched in July the new Titan ETEM G2, an environmental transmission electron microscope that enables time-resolved, in situ studies of processes and materials exposed to reactive gases and elevated temperatures. New features include a redesigned user interface.

FEI introduced in July the new Verios XHR scanning electron microscope (SEM), which provides sub-nanometer resolution and enhanced control for precise measurements on beam-sensitive materials in advanced semiconductor-manufacturing and materials science applications.

Olympus released in July the NA 1.7 APON100xHOTIRF objective, with a numerical aperture of 1.7, stating that it is the highest Z resolution ever recorded for a total internal reflectance fluorescence microscopy.

Bruker introduced the Dimension FastScan Bio Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), calling it the first commercial AFM that can provide temporal resolution in frames per second for live biological sample observations.

Bruker released in July a micro–computed tomography accessory for SEMs, that can add 2D and 3D high-resolution X-ray imaging capabilities to third-party SEMs.

Carl Zeiss launched in July the High Definition Field Emission SEM SIGMA, which incorporates advances in electronics, detectors and chamber designs for imaging resolution as small as 1 nm.

Carl Zeiss extended its MERLIN FE-SEM Series, enabling the individual configuration of the three systems. New features include in situ 3D surface reconstruction, an in-lens Duo detector, and the ability to integrate an ultramicrotome or AFM directly into the vacuum chamber.

In July, EDAX released the Octane Series Silicon Drift Detectors for its TEAM EDS (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) Analysis Systems on electron microscopes for microanalysis applications. It consists of four models and enables resolution down to 121 eV with stable energy resolution at high collection speeds.

Sales/Orders of Note

Hitachi High-Technologies announced in July that the cumulative sales of its Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope Series exceeded 2,000 units, with sales of the TM3000, which was introduced in April 2010, exceeding 1,000 units by August.