Company Announcements

In May, Russian state company RUSNANO sold its 27.6% equity stake in Advanced Technologies Center, the provider of the FemtoScan scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) and atomic scales, to NPP CPT.

Sales for Carl Zeiss’s Microscopy business grew 1.6% to €310 million ($413 million) in the fiscal half year ending March 31.

Carl Zeiss Microscopy announced in May a collaboration with Gatan to develop systems that provide high-resolution three-dimensional data of resin-embedded cell and tissue samples using Zeiss’s 3View System. The 3View system has an ultramicrotome integrated directly into the vacuum chamber of the Zeiss Merlin and Sigma VP field emission (FE) scanning electron microscopes (SEMs).

In June, Asylum Research named Spectra Research its exclusive distributor for Canada.

In June, FEI entered into a build-to-suit arrangement to construct a new 270,000-square-foot facility in Brno, Czech Republic, for manufacturing, R&D and administration. It will enable the consolidation of FEI’s Czech operations. FEI has 500 employees in the country, and products produced there are projected to account for 60% of sales in 2012.

Product Introductions

Anton Paar released in the US the Adsorption Package for its SurPASS Electrokinetic Analyzer. It enables time-dependent studies, including adsorption and desorption.

In May, Oxford Instruments Nano-Analysis launched Aztec TEM, an energy-dispersive spectrometry software for transmission electron microscopes (TEMs), which allows users to see true chemical variation in real time using overlap corrected TruMap and TruLine scans.

Oxford Instruments released in June the INCAMineral software for automated mineral liberation analysis on a multipurpose SEM. It can retrofit to most SEMs.

CAMECA introduced in May the IMS 7f Auto ion MS, featuring a redesigned primary column, motorized storage chamber and advanced automation routines.

In May, Hitachi High-Technologies released a new version of the HD-2700 scanning TEM equipped with a new spherical aberration corrector, which is software controlled and reduces the time needed for high-order aberration correction.

Hitachi High-Technologies introduced in May the new SU3500 SEM, which improves resolution imaging during low acceleration voltages. Low-vacuum functionality is now standard. Annual sales of 200 units are forecast.

Andor Technology released in June the Revolution XD spinning-disk confocal family of microscopes, which offers a range of upright and inverted microscope alternatives.

Bruker introduced the EC-AFM accessory for its Dimension Icon atomic force microscope. It adds a sealed electrochemical cell designed for battery research and turnkey 1 ppm environmental control.