MUNICH, Germany — At Analytica 2010, Bruker Nano today launches the new N8 NEOS™, the first atomic force microscope (AFM) that is designed and operated like a classical optical microscope, yet with unprecedented stability and precision that enables atomic resolution.

As today’s most advanced optically navigated AFM, the new N8 NEOS offers the familiar handling of most research optical microscopes. The sample investigation starts with optical inspection at lower and then higher magnifications to determine the regions of interest. Finally, for highest, atomic resolution Bruker’s compact, interferometry-based AFM module NANOS™ is used. Arranged at the objective turret just like the various optical objectives, the NANOS can be positioned to the localized spot within less than 1 µm simply by a turn of the turret. Due to its revolutionary new concept, the N8 NEOS provides for seamless integration of AFM into the micro- and nanoscopic inspection process.

Compared to its predecessor, fundamental parts of the new N8 NEOS AFM system have been redesigned. A rigid granite stand is incorporated for lowest thermal drift and highest stability. The ultra-precision vertical stage is a proprietary development and enables a fast and safe auto-approach. Like all Bruker AFMs, the N8 NEOS uses fiber-optic interferometry as the basic principle for the detection of cantilever deflection, providing superior sensitivity combined with a truly calibrated measurement of the cantilever’s deflection and amplitude, respectively.

“The N8 NEOS is the first Atomic Force Microscope that has the look and feel of a standard optical microscope. However, it expands the imaging power to the atomic level. It has been our goal to provide a nano-imaging tool without compromise in resolution or ease of use, and with the N8 NEOS we have accomplished this goal,” stated Dr. Frank Saurenbach, Vice President AFM of Bruker Nano.

“AFM is not an exotic imaging technique anymore,” explained Dr. Hans Achim Fuss, CTO AFM of Bruker Nano. “The N8 NEOS ideally combines both optical and AFM technologies in a single inspection system. This exciting and unique instrument is the result of more than a decade of on-going developments to make AFM technology easy for all microscopists. Optical and atomic force microscopy have finally come together.”

The U.S. launch of the new N8 NEOS will be at Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting, April 6–8, 2010 in San Francisco, CA.

For more information on N8 NEOS, please visit www.bruker-axs.com/new_n8_neos.html

For information about Bruker Nano and Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR), please visit www.bruker.com