Surface Science
Company Announcements
SPECS Surface Nano Analysis changed its name to SPECSTII in March.
In May, Nikon announced the transition of its Brazilian research business to Biolab Brasil. The local, Brazilianowned company will maintain full line distribution, factory authorized service and warranty support for Nikon’s full line of microscopes, including confocal and super-resolution systems. Spectrun, Hoven, PMH and BioLab Brasil, which are all current Nikon Instruments Brazilian dealers, will continue to sell and support Nikon’s products to the educational and clinical market.
Enviro Analytical Instruments, a provider of environmental XPS solution and a SPECS company, named Scanwell as its UK distributor of the EviroESCA x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy system.
ZEISS Research & Quality Technology’s half-year revenue for the the period ending March 31 declined 0.8%, but were up 4% in constant currency, to €737 million ($893 million) to represent 27% of company revenues. Driving sales was demand from the automobile industry.
In May, the University of North Florida Materials Science and Engineering Research Facility (MSERF) announced its partnership with TESCAN to install a TESCAN Q-Phase microscope, an instrument for quantitative phase imaging based on holographic microscopy that is capable of imaging live cells for up to 5 days. The demonstration period will last 90 days.
In June, AFM firm Park Systems named CN Technical Services as its sales representative for the UK and Ireland. Other European distributors include ST Instruments for Benelux, Milexia for France, Gambetti Kenologia for Italy, Biometa Tecnologia y Sistemas for Spain, Schaefer SouthEast for Romania and South-East Europe, Promenergolab for Russia and Tekno Tip for Turkey
In June, Park Systems appointed AVBA Hi-Tech Services as a sales representative for Israel.
In July, Park Systems opened the Park Nanoscience Lab at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India, which has been upgraded to the status of Institute of Eminence. The Nanoscience Lab at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering will be equipped with a Park NX20 AFM.
In June, the California Nanosystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Leica Microsystems officially established the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at UCLA. The Center of Excellence features confocal microscopy technology from Leica, including 3D STED, digital light sheet, super-resolution and multiphoton imaging systems.
JEOL announced in June the grand opening of the UC Irvine Materials Research Institute and JEOL Center for NanoScale Solutions. The Center includes the first US installation of the JEOL GRAND ARM TEM. The facility also houses the company’s JEM2800 high-throughput, nano-analysis TEM/STEM, and the JEM2100F cryogenic and atomic-level structural analysis TEM.
Cytosurge announced in June a premium partnership with Bruker to combine the femtoliters-scale fluid control and cell treatment precision of its FluidFM with the force control, resolution and speed of Bruker’s PeakForce Tapping AFM technology. The partnership opens up a broad range of FluidFM applications for BioScope Resolve BioAFM users, from single-cell adhesion and injection into single cells, through colloidal studies to nanolithography. This partnership is the third between Cytosurge and leading AFM manufacturers.
Product Introductions
In May, JEOL and Digital Surf partnered to introduce SMILE VIEW Map software for users of JEOL’s SEMs.
Leica Microsystems released in June PAULA (Personal AUtomated Lab Assistant) for cell labs. PAULA is designed to automate time consuming, routine manual tasks, such as confluence checks. PAULA is based on a unique optical layout combining multichannel LED fluorescence and phase illumination.
Leica Microsystems debuted in July a new version of its Cleanliness Expert software. New features include analysis of more than one filter per batch. The software is a result of a collaboration with Pall.
In June, EDAX, an AMETEK company, launched the Velocity EBSD camera, which offers high-speed EBSD mapping with what it calls the highest indexing performance on real-world materials.
Sales and Orders of Note
Thermo Fisher Scientific announced in May the installation of its Thermo Scientific Glacios Cryo-TEM at Astex Pharmaceuticals’ R&D headquarters in Cambridge, UK, to aid in drug discovery and development.
In July, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is the first center in Latin America to install a Thermo Scientific Krios G3i Cryo-TEM. Installation is expected to begin the third quarter at the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory, one of four National Laboratories managed by CNPEM.
The Institut Pasteur officially unveiled in July its new Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Scientific Krios Cryo-TEM for use in research in areas such as immunology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology and neuroscience.
