Technical Insight
Veeco acquires probe manufacturer (Materials and Equipment)
Veeco Instruments of Santa Barbara, CA, has acquired ThermoMicroscopes, a subsidiary of Thermo Electron Corporation, for an undisclosed sum. ThermoMicroscopes will be renamed TM Microscopes, and will continue to manufacture atomic force and scanning probe microscopes, near-field optical microscopes and probes. Employees will remain at the company s location in Sunnyvale, CA, and will become part of the Veeco Metrology Group. "Both companies SPM and AFM products are complementary," said TM Microscope s president Don Kania. "We will now be able to offer the most complete product line available, from low-cost research microscopes to general purpose industrial tools and fully automated systems. We see synergies in existing products, intellectual property, basic technologies and in new products already under development and those planned for the future." "This purchase broadens our AFM product line, adds proprietary tip technology, and allows us to offer a versatile research microscope product line that is ideal for a variety of material science and nanoscience applications," said Edward Braun, Veeco s chairman, president and chief executive officer. Veeco is a supplier of process equipment and metrology tools to optical telecommunications, data storage, semiconductor and research markets.
