FEI Company
Encyclopedia
FEI Company founded in 1971, is an American supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on the nanoscale
. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon
, the company employs 1,770 people worldwide.
FEI's tools include ion and electron-beam technologies that enable users to characterize, analyze and manipulate structures down to the sub-angstrom
scale. The company's systems include a line of DualBeam systems that combine ion and electron beams in a single system to provide 3D characterization, analysis and sample manipulation, scanning electron microscope
s, transmission electron microscopes, focused ion beam
s, and the world's highest resolution commercially available microscope, yielding powerful sub-angström
(atomic scale) imaging and analysis.
Electron Optics, and the 1999 acquisition of ion beam company Micrion. As such, the company can trace its roots in electron microscopy to the early commercial instruments produced by Philips Electron Optics in the 1940s.
On December 20, 2006, Philips Business Electronics International B.V. sold its shares of common stock in FEI Company reducing its shareholding in FEI to zero. In May 2011, the company announced a second straight quarter of record revenue and profits, with the company totaling nearly $200 million in revenue for their second quarter. The company attributed the growth to a diversification of its clientele.
FEI maintains research and development centers in Hillsboro
, Oregon
; Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Brno
, Czech Republic
; and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, the company employs 1,770 people worldwide.
FEI's tools include ion and electron-beam technologies that enable users to characterize, analyze and manipulate structures down to the sub-angstrom
Ångström
The angstrom or ångström, is a unit of length equal to 1/10,000,000,000 of a meter . Its symbol is the Swedish letter Å....
scale. The company's systems include a line of DualBeam systems that combine ion and electron beams in a single system to provide 3D characterization, analysis and sample manipulation, scanning electron microscope
Scanning electron microscope
A scanning electron microscope is a type of electron microscope that images a sample by scanning it with a high-energy beam of electrons in a raster scan pattern...
s, transmission electron microscopes, focused ion beam
Focused ion beam
Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor industry, materials science and increasingly in the biological field for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. An FIB setup is a scientific instrument that resembles a scanning...
s, and the world's highest resolution commercially available microscope, yielding powerful sub-angström
Ångström
The angstrom or ångström, is a unit of length equal to 1/10,000,000,000 of a meter . Its symbol is the Swedish letter Å....
(atomic scale) imaging and analysis.
History
The FEI company was founded in 1971 by Dr. L.W. Swanson, Mr. N.A. Martin and Mr. L. Swenson, as a supplier of electron and ion beam sources for field emission research and electron microscopy. In 1978, Dr. J. Orloff, who was doing research on electrostatic optics for field emission ion and electron sources, joined the company as its fourth partner. FEI's introduction of the liquid-metal ion beam source in 1981 led to its application in the semiconductor industry for mask repair and defect analysis. The current company was formed by the 1997 merger between FEI and PhilipsPhilips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
Electron Optics, and the 1999 acquisition of ion beam company Micrion. As such, the company can trace its roots in electron microscopy to the early commercial instruments produced by Philips Electron Optics in the 1940s.
On December 20, 2006, Philips Business Electronics International B.V. sold its shares of common stock in FEI Company reducing its shareholding in FEI to zero. In May 2011, the company announced a second straight quarter of record revenue and profits, with the company totaling nearly $200 million in revenue for their second quarter. The company attributed the growth to a diversification of its clientele.
Market divisions
- NanoResearch & NanoIndustry, which includes a broad range of institutes, universities, national laboratories and industrial companies primarily performing research and development in material science
- NanoElectronics, which includes developers and manufacturers in the semiconductor, data storage and related fields
- NanoBiology, which includes institutes, universities, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals working in life sciences research and development.
Locations
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
; Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
; and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world.
Competitors
- AspexAspexAspex Corporation, originally founded in 1992, is a supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on Process control through automated Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy....
Corporation - Applied MaterialsApplied MaterialsApplied Materials, Inc. is a capital equipment producer serving the semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar manufacturing industries....
, Inc. - HitachiHitachi, Ltd.is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
- JEOLJEOLis a manufacturer of electron microscopes and other scientific instruments. Its headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan, with 25 subsidiaries and two associated companies....
, Inc. - KLA-Tencor Corporation
- TESCANTESCANTESCAN, a.s. is a Czech Republic company which was founded in 1991 by several R&D and service engineers from a former and now non existing company, Tesla Brno...
- BrukerBrukerBruker is a leading provider of high-performance scientific instruments and solutions for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis...
- Carl Zeiss NTS GmbH
- Semtech solutionsSemtech SolutionsSEMTech Solutions is a supplier of used Scanning Electron Microscopes. Founded in 2000, SEMTech Solutions has grown to providing services worldwide. They have sold microscopes in a number of different countries abroad and across the United States....
, Inc.