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.