Bruker Corporation is an American manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. It is headquartered in
Billerica, Massachusetts
Billerica (, ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 42,119 according to the 2020 census. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England.
History
In the early 1630s, a Praying Indian ...
, and is the publicly traded parent company of Bruker Scientific Instruments (Bruker AXS, Bruker BioSpin, Bruker Daltonics and Bruker Optics) and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies (BEST) divisions.
In April 2010, Bruker created a Chemical Analysis Division (headquartered in Fremont, CA) under the Bruker Daltonics subsidiary. This division contains three former Varian product lines:
ICPMS
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a type of mass spectrometry that uses an inductively coupled plasma to ionize the sample. It atomizes the sample and creates atomic and small polyatomic ions, which are then detected. It is ...
systems, laboratory
gas chromatography
Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...
(GC), and GC-
triple quadrupole mass spectrometer
A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (TQMS), is a tandem mass spectrometer consisting of two quadrupole mass analyzers in series, with a (non-mass-resolving) radio frequency (RF)–only quadrupole between them to act as a cell for collision-indu ...
(originally designed by Bear Instruments and acquired by Varian in 2001).
In 2012, it sponsored the
Fritz Feigl Prize
The Fritz Feigl Prize (german: Fritz-Feigl-Preis) by the Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry (ASAC) is named after Fritz Feigl
Fritz Feigl (15 May 1891 – 23 January 1971) was a Jewish Austrian-born chemist. He taught at the University o ...
, and since 1999 the company has also sponsored the
Günther Laukien Prize The Günther Laukien Prize is a prize presented at the European Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference "to recognize recent cutting-edge experimental NMR research with a high probability of enabling beneficial new applications". The prize was establi ...
.
History
The company was founded on September 7, 1960, in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
, Germany
as ''Bruker-Physik
AG''
by five people, one of them being
Günther Laukien Günther Laukien (23 May 1923, in Eschringen (Saarland) – 29 April 1997, in Karlsruhe) was a German physicist and entrepreneur. He is known for his pioneering work in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and for his role in the Bruker company. ...
, who was a professor at the
University of Karlsruhe
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.
KIT was created in 2009 w ...
at the time. The name ''Bruker'' originates from co-founder Emil Bruker, as Günther Laukien himself was formally not allowed to commercialize his research whilst being a professor.
Bruker produced
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fiel ...
(NMR) and
EMR spectroscopy equipment then.
In the early 1960s, the company had around 60 employees and was growing rapidly. One of the early success products was the HFX 90 NMR spectroscopy system, with three independent channels and which was also the first NMR system using only semiconductor transistors.
In 1969, Bruker launched the first commercial
Fourier transform
A Fourier transform (FT) is a mathematical transform that decomposes functions into frequency components, which are represented by the output of the transform as a function of frequency. Most commonly functions of time or space are transformed, ...
NMR spectroscopy system (FT-NMR) and in the 1970s the company was the first to commercialize a
superconducting
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where Electrical resistance and conductance, electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic field, magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material e ...
FT-NMR. Later, the company would expand their product range with
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
,
FTIR and FT-
Raman spectrometers and with
mass spectrometers
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used ...
.
In 1968, Bruker shipped NMR systems to
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
. After that, demand from the US grew, so Bruker opened an office in
Elmsford, New York
Elmsford is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. Roughly one mile square, the village is fully contained within the borders of the town of Greenburgh. As of the 2010 census, the ...
which marked the start of their US activities.
In 2008 after a corporate reorganization lasting 8 years, all divisions were merged in a unified Bruker Corporation.
Günther Laukien died in 1997; one of his four sons
Frank Laukien
Frank H. Laukien (born 1960 in Stuttgart, Germany) is a German-American scientist and entrepreneur, and president and CEO of Bruker Corporation since 2008.
Early life
Frank Laukien is the son of Günther Laukien, the founder of Bruker. His mother ...
, is currently the CEO of Bruker.
Another son, Jörg C. Laukien, also works for the company. Another son, Dirk D. Laukien, is a former company executive.
Acquisitions
Bruker acquisitions include GE NMR Instruments (1992), Siemens AXS (1997), Nonius (2001), MacScience (2002), Vacuumschmelze Hanau (2003), Röntec (2005), SOCABIM (2005), PGT (2005), Keymaster (2006), Quantron (2006), JuWe (2008), SIS (2008), ACCEL (2009), Michrom Bioresources (2011), Skyscan (2012), Prairie Technologies (2013), Oncovision (Preclinical PET imaging business, 2016), Oxford Instruments Superconducting Technology (2016), Hysitron Inc. (2017), XGLab (2017), Luxendo (2017), Alicona (2018), PMOD Technologies LLC (2019). and Optimal Group (2022),
Other
In 1964, the company bought the NMR division of the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
Trüb-Täuber.
Bruker made several offers to take over its supplier
Oxford Instruments
Oxford Instruments plc is a United Kingdom manufacturing and research company that designs and manufactures tools and systems for industry and research. The company is headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, with ...
during the 1970s, but after almost a decade of negotiations, an acquisition was eventually rejected by Oxford Instruments.
In 1997, the analytical X-ray division of
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
was acquired by Bruker.
In 2010, Bruker bought 3 product lines from
Agilent
Agilent Technologies, Inc. is an American life sciences company that provides instruments, software, services, and consumables for the entire laboratory workflow. Its global headquarters is located in Santa Clara, California. Agilent was establi ...
, which Agilent had acquired from
Varian. These included mass spectrometry and gas chromatography instruments. They have since divested these products to Scion Instruments with the exception of the triple quadrupole
In 2012, Bruker bought parts of
Carestream Health
Carestream Health, formerly Eastman Kodak Company's Health Group, is an independent subsidiary of Onex Corporation which is one of Canada's largest corporations.
History
In 2007, the Kodak Health Group was sold to Onex Corporation for $2.35 ...
, including their in-vivo imaging portfolio and related aspects.
In 2019, Bruker bought Alicona, known for production of metrology equipment based on
focus variation Focus variation is a method used to sharpen images and to measure surface irregularities by means of optics with limited depth of field.
Algorithm
The algorithm work as follows:
# at first images with difference focus are captured. This is done by ...
, to extend its analytics business in the industrial market.
In November 2022, it was announced Bruker had acquired the
Mountain View-headquartered miniaturized microscope / miniscope company, Inscopix, Inc.
Products
![Raman Spectroscopy device by Bruker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Raman_Spectroscopy_device_by_Bruker.jpg)
Bruker develops and delivers a wide variety of professional and scientific analysis devices including
mass spectrometers
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used ...
, single-Crystal and powder
X-ray diffractometers,
X-ray tomography devices,
NMR spectroscopy devices,
fluorescence microscopes,
raman spectroscopes,
atomic-force microscopes, and
profilometers
Notable product use
Bruker products are used globally in a variety of situations. The
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is a facility at Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that performs magnetic field research in physics, biology, bioengineering ...
at
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
selected Bruker to build the world's first 21.0
tesla FT-ICR MS.
The
Total Carbon Column Observing Network
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a global network of instruments that measure the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and other trace gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The TCCON ( ) began in 2004 w ...
uses high resolution
FT-IR spectrometers made by Bruker to measure various greenhouse gases across the globe.
Awards
In May, 2004, Frost & Sullivan selected the Company's Bruker Daltonics subsidiary for their 2004 Product Line Innovation Award for the Life Sciences. Bruker Daltonics received this award for its innovative development of sophisticated mass spectrometers.
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.bruker.com
Companies based in Billerica, Massachusetts
Technology companies established in 1960
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Instrument-making corporations
Laboratory equipment manufacturers
Research support companies
1960 establishments in West Germany
Life science companies based in Massachusetts