Thermo Fisher Scientific
Technology
Electron Microscope visualises details of one Angstrom
Thermo Fisher Sientific’s market leading transmission electron microscope is developed at their R&D and manufacturing location in Brainport Eindhoven. It is called Titan Krios. With this microscope, details of one Angstrom (ten millionth of a millimeter) can now be visualized. It is used by customers in semicon, materials science and biological sciences.As Titan Krios can visualize proteins down to the atomic level, the microscope was used to visualize the proteins that characterize the coronavirus and the various mutations in it. Due to the Cryogenic electron microscope of Thermo Fisher Scientific the development of all current vaccines have been evolved very fast.
Electron microscopes
The electron microscope uses electrons to make an object visible. The electron beam is not passed through a set of glass lenses to produce a high-resolution image, but through an electromagnetic field generated by electromagnetic lenses. The first instruments of this type were launched over 70 years ago and had a magnification factor of up to 80,000. The most modern devices are able to magnify more than two million times. This makes it possible to visualise an object that is 6,000 times smaller than the width of a hair.
Talent
Making the world healthier, cleaner and safer
Site leader Maurits Smits of Thermo Fisher Scientific Eindhoven is proud to contribute to solutions in the pandemic. Our electron microscopes are used in laboratories around the world to study the virus and develop means to combat it. "Making the world healthier, cleaner and safer is our mission and Thermo Fisher hugely contributes in the global battle fighting COVID-19."
Societal impact
Testing the World—Ramping Up in the Face of COVID-19
In a time when getting answers quickly is critical, Thermo Fisher Scientific is leveraging its scale and resources to help the world move forward. With innovative solutions and a reliable supply chain already helping meet the unprecedented demand for trusted COVID-19 testing, the company continues to expand its high-quality solutions and accelerate innovation with urgency, addressing current and future challenges.
Brainport factor
Brainport Eindhoven offers Thermo Fisher Scientific a fruitful ecosystem
Some seventy year ago Thermo Fisher Scientific’s division Materials & Structural Analysis started. The heritage of the company lies in Brainport Eindhoven. Just as an important part of the division’s ecosystem. Co-creating customers are essential to the company but so are its suppliers. The division’s supply chain is located in a relatively small geographical area around Eindhoven. Examples of Co-developing suppliers are imec in Leuven, Prodrive and NTS-Group in Eindhoven and Jenoptik in Jena, Germany. Parties that supply certain electronics or are responsible for parts of the electron detector. Everything directly related to the electron column, the source and the stacks of electromagnetic lenses are developed and assemble here in Eindhoven. The detailed engineering and production of the parts is done by suppliers. "