The surface science technology category contains a broad range of instruments that can loosely be called microscopes. Traditional optical microscopes are included, but there are also other instruments that probe and image surfaces at the microscopic scale. Overall, the surface science market is forecast to achieve growth of 9.1% for 2014, with total market demand increasing to just over $6 billion.

Roughly half of surface science market demand is for optical microscopes, but this segment will experience the slowest growth for the year. The main deterrent to growth is that the optical microscopy segment is very broad, and a large portion of the demand is for relatively traditional instruments that are not experiencing much growth. Higher-end optical microscope systems continue to experience faster growth, but not enough to affect overall growth in this $3 billion market. Optical microscopy is used broadly throughout all areas of research and industry, and can generally be used with any sample. For 2014, growth in the optical microscopy segment is forecast at 7.1%.

The next-largest product segment within the surface science market is electron microscopy, representing a little more than a third of the entire surface science market. Electron microscopy enables researchers to prove details much smaller than can be seen with optical microscopy. However, sample preparation and treatment tends to be more complicated, and most measurements are made under vacuum conditions that may prevent the use of the technique with some life science samples. The electron microscopy market should achieve strong growth of 11.9% in the coming year, with total revenues reaching more than $2.1 billion. One of the major customer segments for electron microscopy is the semiconductor and electronics industry. While 2012 was a down year for these customers, and this negatively affected demand for electron microscopes, this market should slowly gather strength and end 2014 quite strongly, helping to propel the market to double-digit growth.

The other three product segments combine to form the remaining 16% of the market. Surface analysis demand will show the greatest growth in 2014, primarily because these instruments are geared toward semiconductor and electronics applications to an even greater extent than are electron microscopes .

Confocal microscopy is an advanced form of optical microscopy in a particular geometry that enables true 3D imaging, which is critical to many applications in life science research. Scanning probe microscopes (SPM) use cantilevered sensors to approach and touch surfaces with extreme precision, allowing unique physical, electrical and thermal measurements of the surface. These latter two technologies should achieve high single-digit growth for 2014.

In addition to being a leading optical microscopy manufacturer, Carl Zeiss also has a significant electron microscopy business, helping to propel the company into the top position in overall surface science market share. Nikon and Leica Microsystems (Danaher) are also involved in optical microscopy, with Leica also holding the leading position in the confocal microscopy segment. FEI has become the leader in electron microscopy, displacing Hitachi High-Technologies. The fifth-largest vendor is Olympus, which is primarily involved in optical and confocal microscopy. The leaders in the SPM area are Bruker, a broad-based instrumentation company that got involved in the market through its acquisition of Veeco Instruments’ SPM business (see IBO 8/31/10), and NT-MDT, a Russian company that is tightly focused on the SPM market.

The surface analysis instrumentation market is dominated by two major players, Ulvac-PHI and Cameca (AMETEK). Another significant company is JEOL, which is involved in the electron microscopy, surface analyzer and SPM markets.