Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc has launched what it says is the first intelligent Wavelength Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (WDS), the Thermo Scientific MagnaRay WDS Spectrometer. The instrument automatically combines energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) results with WDS operations using the embedded expert system. Integrated with the Thermo Scientific EDS NORAN System 7, the MagnaRay determines the elements to be analysed simultaneous to the EDS collecting the data, providing unparalleled microanalysis results with confidence and accuracy. The MagnaRay WDS Spectrometer was first shown at the Microscopy & Microanalysis 2008 conference, August 3-7 in Albuquerque, USA.

Building on the ten year history of the company's MAXray WDS spectrometer, the new MagnaRay combines the benefits of EDS and WDS to help identify elements in a sample as well as their quantitative value. Seamless integration with the NORAN System 7 software means that EDS operators are already trained for WDS analyses. The benefits associated with NORAN System 7 are enhanced when combined with the MagnaRay spectrometer, offering exceptional EDS/WDS qualitative, quantitative and x-ray imaging capabilities.

The innovative design makes nanoanalysis a possibility for the first time, easily operating at lower voltages than traditional WDS. "Intensities of low energy x-rays can be 10 to 100 times higher than traditional WDS technologies enabling the MagnaRay to provide unmatched levels of application performance thanks to low-voltage and low beam current operating conditions," explains David Rohde, microanalysis manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc has annual revenues of $10 billion and more than 30,000 employees serving over 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies, as well as environmental and industrial process control settings.