FEI Receives Titan(TM) Order from Japanese Steelmaker
Steel Researchers to Utilize World's Most Powerful Microscope for Advanced Materials Characterization and Analysis
HILLSBORO, Oregon/September 4, 2006-FEI (Nasdaq: FEIC) today announced that Japan's JFE Steel Corporation has ordered a Titan(TM) 80-300 for its research center in Kawasaki. JFE Steel, a leading global supplier of steel products, is the first Japanese customer to order the Titan S/TEM. In its 2006 fiscal year, it produced more than 30 million tons of raw steel and reported more than U.S. $23 billion in revenues.
Designed for dedicated correction and monochromator technology, the Titan S/TEM is the world's highest resolution commercially-available microscope, yielding powerful
sub-angstrom (atomic scale) imaging and analysis. JFE Steel's Titan S/TEM will be utilized primarily for chemical-microstructural characterization of coated layers and advanced metrology and precipitates, and to obtain chemical bonding data from layer interfaces.
"The steel industry is very competitive and being able to reduce design cycle times is the primary key to success," commented Kaoru Sato, PhD, general manager of the Analysis & Characterization Research Department at JFE Steel. "In our business, this means developing high-performance steel products whose properties depend on nanometer-sized precipitates, sub-nanometer clusters and the behavior of interfaces between surface coatings and steel matrices. We are always looking for better, faster and more accurate ways to characterize our nano-world and are convinced that Titan, with its unsurpassed resolution, will help us leap forward."
"FEI's ultra-high resolution instruments are playing an important role in nanoscale research and development in Japan," commented Don Kania, FEI's president and chief executive officer. "As the world's leader in providing enabling Tools for Nanotech(TM), FEI is honored to bring the Titan with its innovative, groundbreaking results to the important Japanese market."
Until the introduction of the Titan, most ultra-high resolution microscopy was limited to resolutions between one and two angstroms. However, below one angstrom different material properties can be observed. The power of the Titan enables microscopy to be taken to the next level where new discoveries on the structure-property relationships of functional materials become possible. Equipped with this tool, researchers at JFE Steel will have a greatly enhanced ability to observe and characterize their materials.
About JFE Steel
JFE Steel Corporation's three main production centers - two large coastal steelworks in eastern and western Japan, and Chita Works, which produces pipes and tubes - use advanced technologies to efficiently produce high-quality steel products. Each production center incorporates a technical research center for the development and application of the world's most advanced steelmaking technologies.
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 50 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: www.fei.com.
Sandy Fewkes
MindWrite Communications, Inc.
Ph: 408-224-4024
Sandy@Mind-Write.com
www.mind-write.com
