Company Announcements

In January, Vashaw Scientific announced it is now a distributor for ZEISS microscopy in the Southeast US.

Leica Microsystems announced in May that it has taken over direct sales for industrial and forensics customers in the Southeastern US from Vashaw Scientific.

In April, FEI and CEOS delivered the first sub-Ångstrom, low-voltage TEM to collaborator University of Ulm for high-contrast, atomic-scale imaging of radiation-sensitive materials.

For the fiscal half year ending March 31, ZEISS’s Research & Quality Technology (Industrial Metrology, Microscopy) revenue grew 11.6% to €719 million ($790 million) to represent 31% of total sales. Microscopy sales were flat.

For FY16 ending March 31, Olympus Scientific Solutions (SS) sales fell 2.2%, 5% excluding currency, to ¥101.6 billion ($846.2 million) to account for 13% of revenues (see IBO 6/15/16). Life Science and Industrial sales declined roughly 5% and 4% excluding currency to account for 43% and 57% of SS sales, respectively. Growth was impacted by delayed research spending and lower demand for nondestructive testing equipment. SS operating margin improved 60 basis points to 8.1% primarily due to currency.

Optiscan Imaging named Archie Fraser as CEO in May.

PrimeNano named Bruker Nano Surfaces as a distributor of its ScanWave module for AFMs (see below).

TESCAN partnered with the University of Florida to open the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research in May.

Product Introductions

Bruker introduced in April the Dimension FastScan Pro Automated AFM Nano-Metrology system for high-volume environments. It provides nanometer resolution at high scan rates for up to 300 mm samples.

In May, Bruker added the capability for scanning microwave impedance microscopy to its Dimension Icon AFMs for enhanced nanoscale mapping of permittivity and conductivity.

In April, ZEISS launched the LSM 800 for materials research and failure analysis. It combines the LSM 800 laser scanning module with the Axio Imager inverted microscope.

In May, ZEISS introduced the Fast module for its LSM 880 confocal LSM with Airyscan, which enables parallel excitation and detection of four image pixels.

FEI released the mid-range Apreo SEM, designed to accommodate a large range of samples, applications and conditions. It is capable of resolution down to 1.0 nm at 1 kV without the need for beam deceleration.

Oxford Nanoimaging introduced the compact Nanoimager single-molecule fluorescence microscope with 3-D, dual-color super-resolution functionality. It features a low cost of entry and ease of use.