Bruker AXS Announces Agreement to Acquire Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) Company S.I.S. Surface Imaging Systems GmbH

08-20-2008: Bruker AXS GmbH announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire all of the equity of S.I.S. Surface Imaging Systems GmbH, a company with annual revenues of approximately $3 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008, and no further financial details were provided.

S.I.S. Surface Imaging Systems GmbH is located in Herzogenrath, near Aachen, Germany. S.I.S. develops, manufactures and distributes advanced atomic force/scanning probe microscopy systems (AFM/SPM) for numerous applications in materials research, including semiconductors, data storage, electronic materials, solar cells, polymers and catalysts. AFM/SPM is a well-established method for ultra-high spatial resolution surface imaging and the characterization of surfaces down to atomic dimensions.

S.I.S. offers a product range from bench-top high-performance AFM-only microscopes to integrated high-end AFM/optical microscopy (OM) combinations, all the way to large floor-standing AFM/OM combination instruments for the characterization of 300mm wafers in a clean room environment. The S.I.S. core technology includes extremely compact AFM/SPM subunits which can be integrated easily with other analytical instruments such as optical microscopes, Raman microscopes or micro-hardness testers.

S.I.S. Surface Imaging Systems GmbH was founded in 1993 by Dr. Frank Saurenbach and Dr. Hans-Achim Fuss, two physicists with extensive experience in AFM/SPM technology. After the acquisition, S.I.S. will remain in Herzogenrath and will be renamed to “Bruker Nano GmbH”. Drs. Saurenbach and Fuss will continue to lead the business as Managing Directors. While successful S.I.S. distributors will be retained, Bruker AXS will contribute its global materials research marketing, technical sales, demonstration, training and service capabilities, as well as R&D and operating management assistance, to accelerate the revenue and margin growth of the future Bruker Nano GmbH.