04/12/2006  Imago Scientific Instruments Corp., a Madison, Wis., maker of atom probe tomography tools, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Oxford nanoScience Ltd., a UK-based competitor, from Polaron plc. The deal, which was for a total of $4.35 million, includes $2.25 million in cash and the issue of $2.1 million in preferred stock.

04/07/2006  April 7, 2006 - The "Metrology Using X-Ray Technology" (MUXT) consortium, a project funded by the European Commission and carried out by Crolles2 partners ST Microelectronics, Philips Semiconductors, and CEA-LETI to evaluate and assess prototype equipment for next-generation semiconductor technologies, has added Jordan Valley Semiconductors Inc. to its roster.

04/05/2006  April 5, 2006 - Accent Optical Technologies has developed a new scatterometry acceleration tool to provide advanced critical dimension (CD) metrology for 65nm device manufacturing.

04/04/2006  FEI Co., a Hillsboro, Ore., maker of focused ion- and electron-beam tools for nanoscale characterization and research, announced late Monday that Vahe Sarkissian has stepped down as the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer and will be leaving the company. Sarkissian, who joined the company in 1998, would also resign as a director prior to the company's annual shareholder meeting on May 11.

03/16/2006  March 16, 2006 - Barely a month after it acquired scatterometry pioneer Accent Optical Technologies Inc. for roughly $80 million, Nanometrics Inc., Milpitas, CA, is back at it again, snapping up overlay metrology firm Soluris Inc. for $7.0 million in cash.

03/16/2006 

03/01/2006  METROLOGY TOOLS PROVIDE SOLUTIONS

03/01/2006  Last fall, Clayton Teague sat under fire as members of Congress peppered him with questions about nanotechnology’s potential for a big oops: nano-based materials or products that could harm people or the environment.

02/24/2006  February 24, 2006 - In the latest episode of an evolving story of consolidation in the metrology sector, KLA-Tencor Corp. has agreed to acquire inspection systems provider ADE Corp. for $488 million in stock.

02/22/2006  February 22, 2006 - KLA-Tencor has added a new feature spanning its lineup of overlay, CD SEM, and optical CD metrology tools to provide automated real-time analysis of overlay and critical dimension (CD) metrology data during 65nm and below IC manufacturing processes.

02/17/2006  February 15, 2006 -- Flanders, NJ -- Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RTEC), a leading provider of process control equipment for thin film measurement and macro defect inspection, announced today that its merger with August Technology Corporation has been completed.

01/30/2006 

01/26/2006  January 26, 2006 - Nanometrics Inc., Milpitas, CA, is acquiring Accent Optical Technologies Inc., Bend, OR, in a stock deal worth approximately $80.9 million in a deal that combines Nanometrics' and Accent's process control and metrology technologies.

01/26/2006  The combination of Nanometrics and Accent would create one of the largest metrology and process control companies in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. Based on the closing price of Nanometrics common stock on Wednesday, the transaction values Accent at $80.9 million.

01/01/2006  Since its founding in 1953, the Institute of Environmental Sciences & Technology (IEST) has played a critical role in identifying and establishing standards for effective contamination-control practices, processes and environments.

12/07/2005 

12/02/2005  December 2, 2005 - The IEEE has begun work on a new standard to define methods for testing carbon nanotubes used as additives in bulk materials, and how to report data about the materials' performance.

11/04/2005 

11/01/2005  The NanoCommerce trade show and SEMI NanoForum begin today in Chicago. The events, which run through Thursday, are designed to cover both business and technology issues.

10/21/2005  October 21, 2005 - Micro-Metric, San Jose, CA, a provider of noncontact measurement and assembly systems, has announced that View Engineering, a Simi Valley, CA-based vision measurement systems provider, has acquired its assets.