Jul 28 2005
Veeco Instruments Inc. announced today that it has been awarded the R&D 100 Award for a new technique enabling high-resolution, interferometric measurement through glass and other transparent media. Research and Development Magazine bestows the award to the top 100 commercial products introduced in the past year that exhibit technical excellence. This award is the fifth major industry honor garnered by Veeco's optical metrology products since 2000.
"Veeco is pleased to have again been recognized by the R&D 100 panel of judges," said John Wissinger, Ph.D, V.P and Manager of Veeco's Optical and Industrial Metrology group. "We have a long history of helping our customers meet challenging measurement requirements. This award highlights a case in which Veeco responded to an industry need and developed a solution with wide applicability to some very important research and production measurements." Prior to this year, Veeco has earned eight additional R&D 100 Awards, including three for optical metrology, three for atomic force microscopy, and two for process equipment.
Optical profiling is a standard technique for non-contact, 3D measurement of surface topography at the micro- and nano-scales. The new method for which Veeco was granted the award allows an optical profiler to characterize samples through protective packaging, environmental chamber windows, fluid cells or other transparent media, which until now was not possible. "Through-glass measurement" lets researchers see and quantify surface changes and interactions under varying environmental conditions, such as high vacuum or temperature. While initially designed for characterizing Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), the method's utility extends to materials science, biological applications, and research into other novel devices and physical phenomena.