Market Perspectives

Once depicted only as drawings in school textbooks, atoms come alive through the power of the latest high-tech microscopes. Products like JEOL's JEM-3100 transmission electron microscope can magnify objects by more than one million times. For researchers, that means stunning images like this decagonal quisicrystal (left), where each bright point depicts atoms such as aluminium or copper. Atoms are no larger than a nanometre, which is equivalent to one-billionth of a metre.

Can we really see atoms?

Contributed by Chihiro Takeuchi

An atom may be only one-billionth of a metre in size - about the same as a volleyball in comparison to the earth - but it can still be seen.
A transmission electron microscope capable of immense magnification would be needed to view atoms and molecules. And in Australia, that microscope would likely be a product of the JEOL company.
The Japan Electron Optics Laboratory, established in 1949, is the worldﾕs leading manufacturer of electron microscopes and various scientific instruments, contributing to the field of science all over the world through its products.
JEOL (Australasia) Pty Ltd started in 1965, following the start-up of JEOL's American and French operations. More than 40 years on, JEOL Australasia continues to distribute and maintain its instruments in Australia and New Zealand.

An up close and personal view of an ant, magnified using a JEOL scanning electron microscope

Neo Scope

Most Australian users of JEOL products (77 per cent) are national laboratories and universities. Private companies make up 18 per cent market share and hospitals the rest. JEOL's share of the electron microscope market is nearly 50 per cent, making it number one in the country.
JEOL rates its success on producing high performance instruments at a reasonable price and delivering reliable after-sales service - vital to this industry.
The company is looking for growth in the field of chemical analysis, where JEOL's NMR system - or mass spectrometer - is expected to make a large contribution.
JEOL has also developed a small but high performance scanning electron microscope named 'Neo Scope'. This instrument, about the size of two PCs, is hoped to entice high school and university students to develop their interest in science.

Mr Chihiro Takauchi joined JEOL (NIhondenshi Ltd in Japan) in 1980, following his graduation from Tokyo's Rikkyo University. He was in charge of India and Middle Eastern countries before being appointed as a director of JEOL(Australia) Pty Ltd in 2005. Keen on golf and other outdoor activities. Mr Takeuchi and his family live in Chatswood.