Surface science techniques provide microscopic analysis of surfaces and samples. The individual technologies span an enormous range of sophistication, from light microscopes that cost thousands of dollars to complicated confocal microscopes and ultra high-vacuum surface analysis systems with price tags a thousand times larger. Microscopic analysis of surfaces and samples together represented nearly $4.3 billion in 2009 sales, a 4.4% decrease from 2008. The overall market is forecast to grow 5.9% in 2010, reaching a total market value of more than $4.5 billion.

Roughly half of the market demand is due to optical microscopes, a diverse segment that includes simple microscopes for educational use and high-end research microscopes with sophisticated imaging technologies. Although this market is forecast to grow the slowest in 2010, growth will be a respectable 4.8%. Although light microscopy is a very traditional technique with roots going back centuries, the vendors in this area continue to develop new wrinkles on the technology that provide novel imaging modes with enhancements for particular applications. Most of these technological developments originate in university labs, and are then commercialized through technology licensing.

This kind of technology licensing is also very common in the confocal microscopy segment, which also continues to expand capabilities. Confocal microscopes push the limits of resolution beyond what is generally possible in a standard optical microscope. However, this additional potential comes with a high price tag for the most sophisticated confocal instruments. Nevertheless, fueled in part by stimulus spending by government and academia, confocal microscopy should achieve the fastest sales growth in 2010.

While optical and confocal microscopes are both more oriented toward life science applications, the remaining technologies in the surface science market are more materials oriented, with a significant dependence on the semiconductor and electronics industry. This industrial sector already faced one of its periodic downturn in 2008 before the global economic crisis occurred, which further magnified the severity of the cyclical crash through 2009. Fortunately, chip sales are now on the rise, and this foreshadows some welcomed growth for these analytical technologies, which are disproportionately dependent upon the semiconductor industry.

Electron microscopy has the broadest set of applications. This market is further evolving toward specialized solutions for particulate analysis and mineralogy, helping to expand the market beyond semiconductor materials. The introduction of relatively simple tabletop scanning electron microscopes has also energized the lower end of the market, which now both complements and competes with optical microscopy like never before. At the high end, vendors vie for the record for finest resolution in a commercial electron microscope.

Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) continues to be the growth leader in the surface science market. Primarily used for research, SPM is a key tool in the growing field of nanotechnology. SPM should also increasingly be used in life science applications, as researchers adapt chemical and life science technologies for use at the end of an SPM probe, providing new areas for commercial expansion. Surface analyzers are forecast to grow about 6% in the coming year, rebounding from a particularly bad 2009.

Since optical microscopy makes up half of the surface science market, the vendor-share leaders are skewed toward the four major microscope manufacturers—Olympus, Nikon, Carl Zeiss, and Leica Microsystems (Danaher). All of these companies are important in both optical and confocal microscopy. The fifth largest surface science vendor is JEOL, with an 8% share of the market. Although Hitachi High-Technologies is the market leader in electron microscopy, JEOL has additional revenues from surface analysis systems and SPM that place it in the fifth position. Other significant players include Veeco Instruments, which leads the SPM market, and Ulvac-PHI, which dominates the surface analysis market.

Chart: 2008–2011 Total Surface Science Instrumentation Market

2008 2009 2010 2011

Surface Science $4,493 $4,297 $4,551 $4,870

Surface Science Instrumentation 2009–2010

Market Share Growth Rate

Optical Microscopy 50.8% 4.8%

Electron Microscopy 33.4% 7.0%

Surface Analyzers 6.4% 6.2%

Scanning Probe Microscopy 5.9% 7.5%

Confocal Microscopy 3.5% 8.7%

Total 100.0% 5.9%

Chart: 2009 Surface Science Market by Product Type

2009

Initial Systems 2700

Aftermarket 983

Service 614

Chart: 2009 Surface Science Suppliers Market Shares

Olympus 12%

Nikon 11%

Carl Zeiss 10%

Leica (Danaher) 9%

JEOL 8%

Others 50%

Surface Science Instrumentation Market Leaders

Optical Microscopy Olympus, Nikon

Electron Microscopy Hitachi High-Technologies, JEOL

Surface Analyzers Ulvac-PHI, JEOL

Scanning Probe Microscopy Veeco, NT-MDT

Confocal Microscopy Carl Zeiss, Leica (Danaher)