Carl Zeiss SMT recently marked the 40th anniversary of its watershed scanning electron microscope.The product was developed in 1965 by Cambridge Instrument Co., a U.K.-based predecessor of Carl Zeiss SMT’s nanotechnology division. Four decades later, the SEM is still partly manufactured in Cambridge and has been adapted to a broad range of uses. Two of these developments have had long-ranging effects: the development of the proprietary Zeiss Gemini column technology in 1992, which gave a boost to the SEM’s resolution; and the combination of the SEM column with a focused-ion beam column, transforming the instrument into a multiversatile analysis workstation.

The SEM is used in the electronics, forensics, paper, archeology, pharmaceutical, biology, semiconductor and food industries.

Carl Zeiss is a global service provider in the optical and opto-electronic industries. Its headquarters are located in Oberkochen, Germany. For more information, visit www.zeiss.com.

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