Company Announcements

In October, Leica Microsystems and Spain-based ICFO—The Institute for Photonic Sciences announced a three-year collaboration agreement to promote and establish ICFO as a new European Nanoscopy Imaging Reference Site for Leica. Services will be offered on the Leica TCS SP8 STED 3X STED system.

ZEISS announced in October a €300 million ($330 million) investment in an expansion of its site in Jena, Germany, which will integrate existing ZEISS sites. The site’s number of employees is expected to increase from 2,000 to 2,500. Construction will begin in 2019 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

In November, AFM company Park Systems announced the grand opening of the Park NanoScience Center at SUNY (State University of New York) Polytechnic Institute in Albany, New York.

In November, ZEISS acquired a majority stake in the Optec, its sales and service partners for Russian, the Ukraine, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia. Optec has 300 employees.

Product Introductions

In October, HORIBA Scientific launched the HORIBA CLUE Series of detectors for SEM, consisting of the: i-CLUE fast cathode-luminescence imaging system; the F-CLUE imaging and hyperspectral CL solution; the H-CLUE imaging and hyperspectral CL solution and the R-CLUE, which combines the cathodoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence with one fiber-coupled solution.

Bruker introduced in October the NanoMechanicsLab, a suite of force-mapping modes that enables its Dimension FastScan and Icon AFM systems to performance quantitative nanoscale characterization, extending from soft hydrogels and polymers to stiff metals and ceramics. Modes include the ForceVolume, new PeakForce QNM, FASTForce Volume and FASTForce Volume Contact Resonance modes.

In October, Oxford Instruments released the Photovoltaic Option for its MFP-3D Infinity AFM. The PV Option provides researchers a turnkey solution for a wide range of sample heights and illumination sources.

ZEISS debuted in November the new generation of EVO SEMs. It features various vacuum modes and detector technologies. The ZEISS SmartSEM Touch is a simplified user interface developed for the occasional operator with limited SEM knowledge. It can be configured to be part of a semi-automated multimodal workflow.

Anton Paar released in November the Tosca analysis software, based on Digital Surf’s Mountains surface analysis technology, for its Tosca 400 AFM. It features real-time 3D multichannel imaging with overlays.

Sales

In October, Hitachi High-Technologies announced the sale of more than five thousand Critical Dimension–SEMs. The system was launched in 1984.