Digital Surf is a French software company formed in 1989 mainly known for its
Mountains software, that is offered as embedded or optional OEM surface analysis software by the majority of
profilometer and
microscope
A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...
manufacturers.
History
* Digital Surf was established in 1989 in
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, initially as manufacturer of 3D non-contact laser
profilometers.
* In 1990, the company launched its first profile (2D surface texture) analysis software, for the
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
operating system, followed in 1991 by a topography (3D surface texture analysis) software for the
Macintosh II
The Macintosh II is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from March 1987 to January 1990. Based on the Motorola 68020 32-bit CPU, it is the first Macintosh supporting color graphics. When introduced, a basic sy ...
platform.
* In 1992, Digital Surf had a first OEM deal with the company
Taylor-Hobson
Taylor Hobson is an English company founded in 1886 and located in Leicester, England. Originally a manufacturer of still camera and cine lenses, the company now manufactures precision metrology instruments—in particular, profilometers for the ...
. The software has since been offered by Taylor Hobson under the names TalyMap (topography) and TalyProfile (profile analysis).
* In 1997, Digital Surf moved all its software to Windows and launched a new product for
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...
under the name
Mountains. Other
profilometer manufacturers started to promote it, such as Hommel-Etamic (
Jenoptik
Jenoptik AG is a Jena, Germany-based integrated photonics group. The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is included in the TecDAX stock index.
History
The group can trace its heritage back to the original Carl Zeiss AG co ...
Group) or
KLA-Tencor
KLA Corporation is an American capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California. It supplies process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor industry and other related nanoelectronics industries. The company's produ ...
.
* In 2009, Digital Surf stopped manufacturing profilometers to refocus on the sole Mountains analysis software.
* in 2011,
Mountains was supplied as the standard or optional OEM surface analysis software by about 30 manufacturers, including
Taylor-Hobson
Taylor Hobson is an English company founded in 1886 and located in Leicester, England. Originally a manufacturer of still camera and cine lenses, the company now manufactures precision metrology instruments—in particular, profilometers for the ...
,
Jenoptik
Jenoptik AG is a Jena, Germany-based integrated photonics group. The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is included in the TecDAX stock index.
History
The group can trace its heritage back to the original Carl Zeiss AG co ...
,
KLA-Tencor
KLA Corporation is an American capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California. It supplies process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor industry and other related nanoelectronics industries. The company's produ ...
,
Keysight
Keysight Technologies, or Keysight, is an American company that manufactures electronics test and measurement equipment and software. The name is a blend of ''key'' and ''insight''. The company was formed as a spin-off of Agilent Technologies, wh ...
,
Leica, Mitaka Kohki,
Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
, or
Zeiss.
* Digital Surf has contributed to the
ISO 25178
ISO 25178: Geometrical Product Specifications (GPS) – Surface texture: areal is an International Organization for Standardization collection of international standards relating to the analysis of 3D areal surface texture.
Structure of the stan ...
standard that defines new 3D surface texture parameters.
* in 2014 Digital Surf took over the Danish company Image Metrology, the developer of the software SPIP, specialized in the image analysis for
atomic force microscope
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the op ...
s. As a result, the version 8 of Mountains includes SPIP.
[''The story behind MountainsSPIP'', interview of Digital Surf's CEO in ''Surface Newsletter'', Fall 2019, Pages 4-6](_blank)
/ref>
* in 2018 Digital Surf claims that its Mountains software is used by 15,000 users and integrated by more than 50 instrument manufacturers worldwide, including Bruker
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, and is the publicly traded parent compa ...
,[''Vision64 Map Software for Improved Metrology and Reporting'' in azonano.com](_blank)
/ref> Hitachi, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher was formed through the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Sc ...
, JEOL
is a major developer and manufacturer of electron microscopes and other scientific instruments, industrial equipment and medical equipment.
Its headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan, with 25 domestic and foreign subsidiaries and associated companies ...
, Anton Paar
Anton Paar GmbH is an Austrian company based in Graz that develops, produces and sells analytical instruments for laboratories and process analytical technology. It also provides automation and robotics. The company specializes in the productio ...
, Nanosystem,[''Nanosystem announced the release of Nanomap Alpha software'' in Imaging&Microscopy](_blank)
/ref> Confovis.''Automated visual surface metrology reports'' in qmtmag
/ref>
Products
The Mountains software is offered to end users as four main lines of products
* MountainsMap, software for profilometers (2D Profilometers, 3D optical profilers and light microscopes)
* MountainsSEM, software for scanning electron microscopes
* MountainsSPIP, software for scanning probe microscopes (atomic force microscopes, scanning tunneling microscopes). MountainsSPIP 8.0 is the successor and merger of Mountains SPM 7.4 from Digital Surf and SPIP 6.7 from Image Metrology
* MountainsLab groups all functions in a single package dedicated to muti-instrument microscopy core facilities
Optional modules to the previous cover force curve analysis (for atomic force microscopes), hyperspectral analysis, contour analysis and application-dedicated functionality.
Versions supplied through instrument manufacturers under their own brands are products tailored from MountainsMap, MountainsSEM or MountainsSPIP.
References
External links
F. Blateyron, ''Calculating 3D parameters according to ASME B46.1 and ISO 25178'', International Conference on Surface Metrology 2009
F. Blateyron, ''New 3D Parameters and Filtration Techniques for Surface Metrology'', in QualityMag.com
* F. Blateyron ''3D Parameters and New Filtration Techniques'' Symposium proceeding of Japan Society of Precision Machining (JSPE) spring general meeting, (2006 March) pp. 21–27.
''Mountains Map 6 Software for Texture and Roughness Analysis from Digital Surf'', interview at MRS congress, Boston by ''azonano''
{{Authority control
Software companies of France
Companies established in 1989