Oxford Instruments is proud to announce that its NanoAnalysis Division has won the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise and Innovation 2012.
Dr. Ian Barkshire Managing Director of Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis division holding the X-Max detector that won the Queen’s Award for innovation.
This award was granted for innovations made during the development of an X-ray instrument that, when used in an electron microscope, can measure the elemental composition of a feature one thousand times finer than a human hair. Such a capability is vital to the nanotechnology world.
This is the fifth Queen's Award won by the NanoAnalysis division and the thirteenth for the Oxford Instruments Group overall.
Established forty years ago in High Wycombe, UK, NanoAnalysis provides a range of nanotechnology tools for electron and ion-beam microscopes. The product cited in the award, the X-Max, enables our customers to map the chemical composition of a sample with features that are measured in tens of nanometres (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre). Applications include semi-conductor development, materials science, renewable energies and forensics. Users include the most prestigious academic institutions and businesses around the world.
X-Max innovations mean that it is up to ten times faster than previous generations, it is much more sensitive, and the results are more accurate. Users can dramatically improve their productivity and can explore ever smaller regions in the nanoworld.
Dr. Ian Barkshire, Managing Director NanoAnalysis, commented, "Working at the frontiers of nanotechnology, we are proud that we have developed an enviable reputation and the largest user community in the market. It is pleasing that our innovations and commercial success have been recognised again by the Queen's Award committee."