Following my retirement, we have closed our company for new business.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly, our email portal remains open and I would be delighted to hear from you and provide ongoing support or advice.

Richard Thomson

support@rta-instruments.com

Companies represented up to the end of December 2023. Please now contact them directly.

k-Space Associates, Inc.
Phone: +1 (734) 426-7977
requestinfo@k-space.com
https://www.k-space.com

STAIB INSTRUMENTS GmbH
Phone: +49 8761 76 24 0
sales@staibinstruments.com
https://www.staibinstruments.com/

Thursday 9 October 2014

News from Thermo Scientific

Thermo Scientific offers vacuum transfer vessel for K-Alpha

News from k-Space Associates

At ICMBE 2014 in Flagstaff, USA, k-Space launched kSA 400 Lite with new features and benefits

News from Riber

RF plasma source demonstrates highest GaN growth rate ever achieved up to 7.6µm/h

It's not too late!

- to sponsor Richard's cycle ride for Epilepsy Research UK. And for every donation RTA Instruments will add £10.

In brief

Front End fab equipment spending is projected to increase in 2015 to US$ 42 billion, about 90 percent of all expenditure is for 300 mm lines. IQE plc, WIN Semiconductors Corp. and Nanyang Technological University plan to create a centre of excellence for the development of compound semiconductor technology in Singapore. Scientists at the University of Twente have designed a reso­nant cavity that serves as a prison for photons. The cavity confines light in all three dimensions in space inside a photonic crystal.

Must try harder?

A recent review shows that whilst Americans view scientists as competent, they are apparently not entirely trusted. This may in part be because they are not perceived to be friendly or warm. In particular, those polled seemed wary of researchers seeking grant funding and did not trust scientists pushing persuasive agendas. Instead, the public leans toward impartiality. Credible communications are key and the review authors suggest that the gap can be filled by scientists showing concern for humanity and the environment. Additionally, rather than persuading, scientists may better serve citizens by discussing, teaching and sharing information to convey trustworthy intentions.

Laugh or cry?

Niels Bohr apparently once said that there are some things so serious you have to laugh at them. He died before the Ig Nobel Prizes were devised. Two papers caught my eye this year. The Art Prize was given for a paper examining the relative pain people suffer while looking at an ugly painting, rather than a pretty painting, while being shot [in the hand] by a laser beam. The Arctic Science Prize was awarded for excellent and much needed work on testing how reindeer react to seeing humans who are disguised as polar bears.