OREANDA-NEWS.  January 31, 2012. Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE: 6501, Hitachi) and Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (TSE: 8036, Hitachi High-Tech) today announced they had received the IEEE Milestone for Hitachi's pioneering development of the world's "First Practical Field Emission Electron Microscope, 1972" from the IEEE*1, the world's largest professional association in the electrical, electronics, information and communications engineering fields.

Established in 1983, the IEEE Milestone honors historical technical achievements from among innovations in the electrical, electronics, information and communications engineering fields that have contributed substantially to the advancement of industry and society. The IEEE Milestone is awarded only after at least 25 years have passed since development.

Hitachi created a practical field emission (FE) electron beam source together with the late Dr. Albert Crewe (former professor of the University of Chicago), the original developer in 1968. Subsequently in 1972, Hitachi installed the FE electron beam source in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), marking the successful development of the HFS-2 model, the world's first commercial FE-SEM*2. The HFS-2 model could be easily operated to observe stable and reliable ultra-high resolution images. Thereafter, Hitachi applied this technology to the development of a Critical Dimension (CD)-SEM model used for process control in semiconductor manufacturing lines, which contributed to the miniaturization of semiconductor devices at the time. At the same time, Hitachi contributed to the advancement of the healthcare and biotechnology fields through such achievements as the world's first observation of an SEM image of the AIDS virus using Hitachi's FE-SEM. Furthermore, Hitachi's FE-SEM has played a vital role in research and advancement in science and technology. Notably, the Aharonov-Bohm*3 effect was demonstrated using electron beam holography generated by a Hitachi FE-TEM*4 fitted with an FE electron beam source.

Hitachi High-Tech was formed through the integration in 2001 of Nissei Sangyo Co., Ltd., a Hitachi Group trading company specializing in technology, and the Instruments Group and Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Group of Hitachi, Ltd. The Hitachi High-Tech Group is currently responsible for electron microscope manufacturing, sales and services. The IEEE Milestone has been jointly conferred on Hitachi and Hitachi High-Tech.

Looking ahead, the Hitachi Group will continue to develop outstanding proprietary technologies and products in fields including electron microscope, where it received the IEEE Milestone, with the view to contributing to the establishment of a safe, secure and comfortable society and the advancement of industry worldwide.