Researchers to Use World's Most Advanced Commercial Electron Microscope for
Leading-Edge Nanotechnology Research and Development
HILLSBORO, Ore., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FEI today announced that
it has begun shipping its new scanning/ transmission electron microscope
(S/TEM), the Titan(TM) 80-300 as it publicly unveiled the new system at the
Microscopy and Microanalysis 2005 Conference in Honolulu. With an all-new
platform dedicated to correction and monochromator technology, the Titan S/TEM
system is the world's highest resolution commercially-available microscope,
yielding powerful sub-Angstrom (atomic scale) imaging and analysis. It enables
microscopy to be taken to the next level where new discoveries on the
structure-property relationships of functional materials become possible.
Customers who previewed and ordered the Titan under non-disclosure agreements
will be the first to receive the new system.
"The Titan is a significant breakthrough for the nanotechnology era that
provides our diverse customer base with a solid foundation for continued
innovation and commercialization. This new system is the most powerful member
of FEI's fleet of ultra-high S/TEM resolution and focused ion beam (FIB)
technologies that deliver enabling tools for researchers, developers and
manufacturers needing greater access to the nanoscale," commented Vahe
Sarkissian, FEI's chairman and chief executive officer. "As the world's leader
in providing Tools for Nanotech(TM), FEI is proud to bring this world-leading
technology to the market."
The first shipments of the Titan 80-300 S/TEM will begin in the current
fiscal quarter. Among the first customers in line for delivery include The
Center for Accelerated Maturation of Materials at Ohio State University (USA),
the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis of the Fritz-Haber
Institute (Germany), Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (Korea), and
Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo/IMP (Mexico).
Titan's dedicated platform for corrector and monochromator technologies
and their applications is designed for a high degree of automation and
provides ultimate stability, performance and flexibility. The microscope
transfers information deep into sub-Angstrom resolution making way for the
highest performance available in both transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) modes. The Titan's
upgradeable design not only enables larger nanotechnology and national
research centers to afford dedicated aberration corrected TEM technology, it
opens the door to universities and companies with staged funds to position
themselves for the future.
Currently, most ultra-high resolution microscopy is performed at
resolutions between one and two Angstroms. However, below one Angstrom
materials exhibit different properties and behaviors. Equipped with the
sub-Angstrom imaging of the Titan, scientists will have a greatly enhanced
ability to observe and characterize materials.
FEI's shipment of the Titan S/TEM marks a significant milestone in its
leadership of providing the world's most powerful tools for nanotechnology.
In a November 2004 news release, FEI announced that it was selected as the R&D
partner for a program aimed at building the highest resolution
scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) in the world. The program is
headed by several regional USA laboratories that combined to form the TEAM
project. This multi-year microscopy development project calls for a new
microscope, based on the Titan platform, that should enable extraordinary new
scientific opportunities for direct observation aimed at enabling analysis of
individual nanostructures at an unprecedented resolution of 0.5 Angstrom --
approximately one-third the size of a carbon atom.
At the Microscopy and Microanalysis conference, FEI also announced new
software, hardware and accessories for its award-winning Tecnai(TM) G2 TEM
series that is targeted for those applications that do not require the next
level of aberration-corrected resolution. Since its introduction in 1998, more
than 500 Tecnai TEM's have been installed worldwide in all markets that FEI
serves: NanoBiology, NanoResearch and NanoElectronics.
About FEI
FEI's Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion- and electron-beam
technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification
capabilities with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level. With R&D centers
in North America and Europe and sales and service operations in more than 40
countries around the world, FEI is bringing the nanoscale within the grasp of
leading researchers and manufacturers and helping to turn some of the biggest
ideas of this century into reality. More information can be found on the FEI
website at: http://www.feicompany.com .
This news release contains forward-looking statements that include
statements about future product capability and an advanced development program
that was discussed in the November 2004 news release. Factors that could
affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to, the
inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technology
advances required to achieve the capability described or consummate the
project described; changes to or cancellation of the project described;
problems arising during execution of the project or the product development
that delay it or cause results to vary from the anticipated results;
unforeseen technology challenges; and failure of a key supplier or project
partner delays in development funding or customer demand that in turn results
in the delayed development. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q
and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for
additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI
assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements
SOURCE FEI Company
08/01/2005
CONTACT: Dan Zenka, APR, Director, Worldwide Public Relations of FEI
Company / Corporate Headquarters, +1-503-726-2695, or dzenka@feico.com
Web site: http://www.feicompany.com
(FEIC)
08/01/2005 08:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com