Nanonis turns 20

20 years ago, on September 12th 2002 a visionary physicist founded a company with the goal to develop and market a revolutionary SPM control system. Nanonis was born. In the following years, the team grew substantially, and so did the number of SPM controllers in operation worldwide and their reputation.

SPECS GmbH acquired Nanonis GmbH in the beginning of 2009. With the takeover Nanonis GmbH became SPECS Zurich GmbH, and Nanonis became a brand name for the Mimea and Tramea product lines. The full development team remained on board, and with them the commitment to develop world-class instruments and to provide excellent customer support.

Since 2002, a high-risk project with a lot of unknows has evolved into a very successful endeavour, and in products with a very high market reputation. Over 1200 Systems are in operation worldwide in 40 countries, enabling state of the art research and giving researchers a tool that allows them to focus on scientific excellence rather than technicalities. This is a result of the core philosophy of Nanonis products: To put the user and application requirements first, and derive the technical implementation from those, not the other way around.

The success is due to a visionary and at that time risky approach: develop user-friendly, high performance fully digital instrument, purely controlled by software and with no physical controls, using FPGA technology. This, while most competitors were using analog circuits and front-panel controls. While the test & measurement industry starts to embrace this concept now, and the automotive industry starts to understand it, 20 years ago it was pioneering work.

Technology and wise product strategy alone are not enough to be successful for 20 years. Key to the success of Nanonis are the people behind the product. An interdisciplinary and multinational team across all departments of SPECS, dedicated and skilled people with strong professionalism, customer orientation, and attention to detail.

A big thank you goes to all people who contributed to this success story, and in particular to all customers who believed in the product from the beginning.