Dr. Nicholas P. Economou and Bill Ward from Carl Zeiss SMT, Inc., Peabody,
Massachusetts, recently received the Wall Street Journal
“Technology Innovation Award” 2007. The award was
presented in the category of “Materials and Other Base
Technologies” for the development of the ORION™
helium ion microscope. The Wall Street Journal awarded the prize based
on the ORIONTM technology’s promise of “a
significantly improved resolution over more widely used electron
microscopes.”
Ward, principal inventor of the helium ion microscope and
chief technologist at Carl Zeiss SMT, Inc., said, “We are
extremely pleased to have been recognized by this renowned award. We
have presented breakthrough technology in both physics and microscopy,
which allowed us to bring to market a truly revolutionary product as
result of our power of innovation and the dedicated work of the people
behind the product.”
“Customer interest is very high and we have already
successfully installed the ORIONTM microscope at key customers,
including the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology
(NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland”, said Economou, senior vice
president of Carl Zeiss SMT, Inc. and a co-inventor of the helium ion
microscope.
The microscope’s proprietary source technology is
based on intellectual property originally developed by ALIS
Corporation, a Peabody, Massachusetts based start-up company acquired
by Carl Zeiss SMT in 2006.