Inside Instrumentation

• Agilent, Asylum in nanotech deal
• Infrared detection system debuts
• X-ray analytical systems introduced
• Fluorospectrometer takes off
• Companies make executive shifts
• MAGNET LAB STARTS UP PRECISION MAGNET

Agilent, Asylum in nanotech deal

Agilent Technologies and Asylum Research will collaborate on developing technologies and applications for nanotechnology-related measurements. Agilent is also making an unspecified equity investment in the smaller six-year-old, employee-owned company. The agreement will combine Asylum's work in manufacturing atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and scanning probe microscopes with efforts in Agilent's Nanotechnology Measurements Division. According to Agilent, the AFM market makes up a significant portion of the $1 billion market for nanotechnology measurement tools and is growing at nearly 20% per year. Separately, Agilent has completed its acquisition of Scientific Software, a provider of scientific information management tools.

Infrared detection system debuts

Spectra Analysis has unveiled the DiscovIR Deposition & Detection System, an infrared detection system for chromatographic analysis. It can be configured for either gas or liquid chromatography and can run in parallel with mass spectrometric analysis. The products from a chromatographic separation are deposited under vacuum and at low temperature to concentrate and preserve volatile species. The company claims the IR detector is as much as 1,000 times more sensitive than previous detectors and thus better matched with mass spectrometry in terms of dynamic range. It is aimed at the pharmaceutical, polymer, petroleum, and fragrance markets.

X-ray analytical systems introduced

Two companies have launched new X-ray analytical systems. The SmartLab XRD from Rigaku is a horizontal-sample-mount X-ray diffractometer for thin-film materials. New software included with the system automates the entire process from setting and aligning the optics to making measurements. The system includes a new, rotating-anode X-ray generator that allows the instrument to achieve higher intensity at lower power consumption. A horizontal sample mount prevents the bending or bowing of samples. Meanwhile, PANalytical has launched a benchtop, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, the MiniPal 4, which weighs only 28 kg. The spectrometer includes a silicon drift detector, which provides improved analytical performance compared with the system's predecessor. Software ensures that routine analysis can be performed without expert knowledge. The instrument can analyze a variety of sample types, including liquids, powders, bulk solids, and surfaces.

Fluorospectrometer takes off

Nanodrop Technologies has introduced the NanoDrop ND-3300 Fluorospectrometer, which can perform full-spectrum fluorescent analysis on 1-µL samples without a cuvette or capillary. Samples are held in place on a fiber-optic measurement surface by surface tension. By combining a white light-emitting-diode light source with ultraviolet and blue LEDs, the system achieves a broad excitation range. The system is intended for biological assays.

Companies make executive shifts

Guava Technologies, provider of cell analysis systems, has promoted Lawrence F. Bruder, 48, to president and chief operating officer. He fills the president's role vacated by Rajen K. Dalal, who was also chief executive officer and who resigned from the company in February. John P. Walker remains chairman and interim CEO. Meanwhile, separations specialist firm Whatman is returning to its search for a CEO. In May, the company announced that Timothy J. Haines, 47, would fill the position, effective Sept. 1. Just recently, however, Haines decided to accept a partnership in the life-sciences-focused venture-capital firm Abingworth Management. Whatman says it had identified a number of candidates in its original search and hopes to make an appointment soon.

MAGNET LAB STARTS UP PRECISION MAGNET

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), established by NSF in 1990, commissioned a new 21-Tesla, wide-bore magnet at its facility in Tallahassee, Fla., on July 28. The superconducting magnet, standing 16 feet tall and weighing more than 15 tons, took more than 13 years to design and build. Its start-up "marks the successful completion of the third of the 'Big Three' magnet projects on which the lab was founded," NHMFL Director Greg Boebinger says. Whereas the other projects focused on making the strongest magnetic fields, this one targeted precision. With a 105-mm-diameter bore, the magnet can accommodate larger samples for nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometric analysis and magnetic resonance imaging. The magnet will be used for materials research, biological structure determination, and imaging laboratory animals to study chemical and biological properties not observable at lower magnetic fields. Collaborations have already begun with scientists from Northwestern University and Brigham Young University. NHMFL is operated jointly by Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Inside Instrumentation is written by Celia M. Henry and Ann M. Thayer. Contact them via e-mail to instrumentation@acs.org.