Press Releases

Evans Analytical Group LLC Completes Acquisition of
the Accelerator Technology Business of Thin Film Analysis, Inc.

Sunnyvale, CA — 22 May 2006 — Evans Analytical Group LLC ("EAG") announced today that, effective May 18, 2006, it has acquired the operating assets and Detector software of Thin Film Analysis, Inc. ("TFA").

TFA is a Silicon Valley based independent analytical laboratory specializing exclusively in material characterization using ion beam accelerator techniques of Rutherford Backscattering analysis (RBS), Hydrogen Forward Scattering analysis (HFS or FRES), and Ion Channeling analysis.  EAG will move the acquired assets of TFA into its Kifer Road facility in Sunnyvale, CA, thus adding a General Ionex Corporation Ion Accelerator to its current National Electrostatics Corporation Pelletron Accelerator.

"RBS provides quantitative composition, thickness, and non-destructive depth profiling of films with thicknesses ranging from 5nm to 1um", said Dr. Charles Magee, Chief Scientist of EAG.  "By combining RBS with HFS, NRA, and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis performed using the same particle accelerator all elements can typically be quantified with a high degree of accuracy without the need for reference standards.  This makes RBS an ideal complement to Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), Auger Electron Spectrometry (AES), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometry (XPS) analytical services also offered by EAG. This increased instrument capacity advances EAG's position as the industry leader in accelerator-related analytical services."

TFA’s principal, Michael Strathman, said, "I am extremely pleased with this transaction. I spent 10 years with Charles Evans & Associates (Now EAG) prior to forming TFA and return quite impressed with the customer service focus, technical advances, depth of resources and overall growth achieved by EAG."

"Michael’s knowledge and expertise in accelerator technology, the TFA accelerator and the Detector software will be great additions to the EAG team", said EAG CEO Tom Pfeil.  "We share Michael’s enthusiasm for this deal.  Accelerator analytical services continue to grow in importance for our high technology customers and we are committed to meeting their current and future needs."

About the Company:
Founded in 1978, Evans Analytical Group (EAG) provides microanalytical surface analysis and materials characterization services to identify the overall atomic and physical structure of materials, including chemical composition and chemical bonding, as well as the level and type of trace impurities.  EAG's services are a critical component in research and development, manufacturing and sales support functions, and are used specifically in developing new processes or materials, transferring those processes to production, developing and qualifying new production tools, and solving yield problems in manufacturing.  EAG has a diversified customer base of more than 1,500 high technology companies in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, electronics, medical and biotech industries, among others. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, EAG also has facilities in Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas and Taiwan. (www.eaglabs.com)