HILLSBORO, Ore., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FEI today announced that it has begun shipping its new scanning/ transmission electron microscope (S/TEM), the Titan(TM) 80-300 as it publicly unveiled the new system at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2005 Conference in Honolulu. With an all-new platform dedicated to correction and monochromator technology, the Titan S/TEM system is the world's highest resolution commercially-available microscope, yielding powerful sub-Angstrom (atomic scale) imaging and analysis. It enables microscopy to be taken to the next level where new discoveries on the structure-property relationships of functional materials become possible. Customers who previewed and ordered the Titan under non-disclosure agreements will be the first to receive the new system.

"The Titan is a significant breakthrough for the nanotechnology era that provides our diverse customer base with a solid foundation for continued innovation and commercialization. This new system is the most powerful member of FEI's fleet of ultra-high S/TEM resolution and focused ion beam (FIB) technologies that deliver enabling tools for researchers, developers and manufacturers needing greater access to the nanoscale," commented Vahe Sarkissian, FEI's chairman and chief executive officer. "As the world's leader in providing Tools for Nanotech(TM), FEI is proud to bring this world-leading technology to the market."

The first shipments of the Titan 80-300 S/TEM will begin in the current fiscal quarter. Among the first customers in line for delivery include The Center for Accelerated Maturation of Materials at Ohio State University (USA), the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis of the Fritz-Haber Institute (Germany), Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (Korea), and Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo/IMP (Mexico).

Titan's dedicated platform for corrector and monochromator technologies and their applications is designed for a high degree of automation and provides ultimate stability, performance and flexibility. The microscope transfers information deep into sub-Angstrom resolution making way for the highest performance available in both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) modes. The Titan's upgradeable design not only enables larger nanotechnology and national research centers to afford dedicated aberration corrected TEM technology, it opens the door to universities and companies with staged funds to position themselves for the future.

Currently, most ultra-high resolution microscopy is performed at resolutions between one and two Angstroms. However, below one Angstrom materials exhibit different properties and behaviors. Equipped with the sub-Angstrom imaging of the Titan, scientists will have a greatly enhanced ability to observe and characterize materials.

FEI's shipment of the Titan S/TEM marks a significant milestone in its leadership of providing the world's most powerful tools for nanotechnology. In a November 2004 news release, FEI announced that it was selected as the R&D partner for a program aimed at building the highest resolution scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) in the world. The program is headed by several regional USA laboratories that combined to form the TEAM project. This multi-year microscopy development project calls for a new microscope, based on the Titan platform, that should enable extraordinary new scientific opportunities for direct observation aimed at enabling analysis of individual nanostructures at an unprecedented resolution of 0.5 Angstrom -- approximately one-third the size of a carbon atom.

At the Microscopy and Microanalysis conference, FEI also announced new software, hardware and accessories for its award-winning Tecnai(TM) G2 TEM series that is targeted for those applications that do not require the next level of aberration-corrected resolution. Since its introduction in 1998, more than 500 Tecnai TEM's have been installed worldwide in all markets that FEI serves: NanoBiology, NanoResearch and NanoElectronics.

About FEI

FEI's Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion- and electron-beam technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification capabilities with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level. With R&D centers in North America and Europe and sales and service operations in more than 40 countries around the world, FEI is bringing the nanoscale within the grasp of leading researchers and manufacturers and helping to turn some of the biggest ideas of this century into reality. More information can be found on the FEI website at: http://www.feicompany.com .

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements about future product capability and an advanced development program that was discussed in the November 2004 news release. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to, the inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technology advances required to achieve the capability described or consummate the project described; changes to or cancellation of the project described; problems arising during execution of the project or the product development that delay it or cause results to vary from the anticipated results; unforeseen technology challenges; and failure of a key supplier or project partner delays in development funding or customer demand that in turn results in the delayed development. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements