Bruker announces acquisition of high-speed QCL-based IR microscopy company

Bruker today announced that it has acquired IRM², a developer of high-speed infrared (IR) imaging microscopes based on quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology. Innovative, fast QCL microscopy expands Bruker’s technology portfolio and market opportunities for infrared microscopy, with applications in biological tissue analysis and materials science, and future potential in tissue diagnostics. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

QCL-based IR microscope

QCL is a novel technology in infrared and Raman microscopy, with key customers at academic and government research institutions, as well as in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The IRM² QCL platform provides direct infrared imaging with detector arrays at very high speed. A proprietary coherence reduction technique delivers unprecedented image quality, so that the composition of large sample areas can be studied much more rapidly and at high lateral resolution.

Urban Fäh, President of Bruker Optics, stated:

Novel QCL technology can offer major speed advantages for infrared and Raman microscopy of large sampling areas, with great promise for the selective screening of biological tissues. The QCL microscopy technology expands our product portfolio, and we welcome the addition of the talented IRM² team, which provides valuable new expertise.

Dr. Niels Kröger-Lui, founder and CEO of IRM², commented:

The IRM² team is proud to become part of Bruker. This is the next step in our vision of transferring the results of our academic research to industrial products that serve customers globally. We believe that Bruker provides the environment for IRM² to integrate our know-how and technology into innovative and competitive QCL microscopy and spectroscopy solutions.