Current NIA Corporate Members in alphabetical order:

Oxford Instruments

Oxford Instruments designs, supplies and supports high-technology tools, processes and solutions with a focus on physical science, bioscience, environmental and industrial research and applications. It provides solutions needed to advance fundamental nanoscience research and its transfer into commercial nanotechnology applications. Innovation has been the driving force behind Oxford Instruments’ growth and success for over 40 years, and its strategy is to effect the successful commercialisation of these ideas by bringing them to market in a timely and customer-focused fashion.

The first technology business to be spun out from Oxford University over forty years ago, Oxford Instruments is now a global company with over 1,300 staff worldwide and a listing on the London Stock Exchange (OXIG). Its objective is to be the leading provider of new generation tools and systems for the Physical Science and Bioscience sectors.

Oxford Instruments’ capabilities in nanotechnology range across:

Nano fabrication

Leading-edge tools and processes for micro- and nano-scale engineering of materials and devices.

  • Advanced plasma deposition and etching process solutions
  • Nanotube and nanowire growth in controllable, repeatable processes
  • Atomic layer deposition (ALD) offering ultra-thin and conformal coatings
  • Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) enables growth of compound semiconductor structures
  • Ion beam deposition and etch tools for a wide materials and applications range

Nano characterisation

After creating nanostructures, Oxford Instruments’ tools offer the ability to characterise the morphology, composition and crystal structure.

  • Elemental analysis and imaging by electron and X-ray technologies (EDX, EBSD, WDS)
  • Microanalysis and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry provide the ability to characterise composition, uniformity and thickness at increasingly small scales.
  • Particle detection and compositional analysis provides identification of particles and defects in such diverse applications as forensic science, performance engine wear and semiconductor failure analysis.

Nano environments

Oxford Instruments' solutions provide researchers with the ability to control environments for the exploration of fundamental nanoscience.

  • High magnetic fields enable the characterisation of molecular structures by Solid State and Solution NMR.
  • Dilution refrigerators and He3 systems provide ultra low temperature environments.
  • Our Cryofree® technologies remove the need for liquid helium and nitrogen.
  • Integrated systems and customised platforms bring high magnetic fields and ultra low temperatures together, to reveal the mechanisms underpinning applications such as quantum computing, spintronics and single-electron devices.
  • Spectroscopy platforms enable optical microscopy and spectroscopic measurements from ultra violet, through visible to infra red, across wide temperature and magnetic field ranges.

For more information go to the Oxford Instruments website.