FEI Announces World's Most Advanced Electron Microscope

New Titan(TM) (S)TEM, With Resolution Below 0.7 Angstrom, Surpasses Previous World Record Performance for Commercial Systems

HILLSBORO, Ore., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- FEI today announced its new scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM), the Titan(TM) 80-300, dedicated to corrected microscopy. The new (S)TEM system is the world's most advanced commercially-available microscope, yielding atomic-scale imaging with resolution below 0.7 Angstrom. The Titan announcement comes just one year after FEI became the first developer and manufacturer of commercial electron microscopes to achieve sub-Angstrom resolution on FEI's market-leading Tecnai(TM) microscope using a monochromator and an aberration corrector.

Until now, aberration correction technologies in electron microscopes have been treated as accessory components for (S)TEM systems that were not truly optimized for this type of advanced technology. Thus, the integration of these types of correctors for breaking the next resolution barrier and for high usability has been met with limited success.

The all-new Titan 80-300 is designed as a dedicated and highly-upgradeable aberration-corrected system that will enable corrector and monochromator technology to enter into mainstream nanotechnology research and industrial markets. The Titan (S)TEM system features unparalleled overall stability to break the 1-Angstrom barrier. Results from FEI's Nanoport in The Netherlands deliver Titan TEM information limits below 0.7 Angstrom and STEM resolution just below 1.0 Angstrom, without the addition of aberration corrector upgrades -- an achievement that has never before been demonstrated on a commercial tool. Corrector upgrades can be added for higher resolution, extending the point resolution down to the information limit for accurate interpretation of atomic structures.

The Titan 80-300 has been rigorously evaluated by several leading researchers and customers under Non-Disclosure Agreements. The system will be fully available for demonstrations after Titan's official launch at the 2005 Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting, August 1-4, in Honolulu.

The upgradeable design of the Titan enables not only 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. FEI has received several advance orders for the new Titan (S)TEM ranging from the base Titan 80-300 to the Titan 80-300 with two aberration correctors and a monochromator. FEI's award-winning and record breaking Tecnai G2 TEM will continue to be marketed and supported for customers who do not need aberration-corrected resolution. New developments and products for this proven platform will also be introduced at the 2005 Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting.

"The Titan 80-300 is a significant platform for the nanotechnology era. It provides our customers a solid foundation for continued innovation and commercialization. FEI's continuing advances in ultra-high TEM resolution, coupled with our market-leading focused ion beam (FIB) technologies, deliver powerful and vital tools for researchers, developers and manufacturers who are increasingly focused on nanoscale discovery and product commercialization," commented Vahe Sarkissian, FEI's chairman and chief executive officer. "As the world's leader in providing Tools for Nanotech(TM), FEI will continue to invest in the development of these key technologies and market platforms."

"The initial market response for this advanced technology has been very strong," said George Scholes, general manager of FEI's (S)TEM business line. "For wide commercialization of this technology we designed the base system with a superior level of upgradeability so customers can add an aberration corrector, on site at a later date. This will enable customers to obtain resolution and capability they need today, knowing that they can expand the system's resolution limits as their requirements change."

Advance orders for the new Titan(TM) (S)TEM have been in markets ranging from advanced materials, energy, and semiconductors, to advanced nanotechnology research centers in Europe and North America. FEI believes that the Titan will also be a powerful addition to FEI's UltraView(TM) suite of sample management tools that takes NanoElectronics customers rapidly from wafers to atoms with sub-Angstrom resolution.

The introduction of the Titan is just one illustration of FEI's leadership in electron microscopy and its ability to accelerate the resolution revolution. In a November 2004 news release, FEI announced that it was selected as the R&D partner for a program aiming to build the highest resolution scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) in the world by several regional U.S. laboratories that combined to form the TEAM project. It is a multi-million dollar microscopy project that calls for a new microscope 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.

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.