History
	A.P.E. Research was established in 1996 by five young physics researchers together with an expert in management, with the aim of transforming in business the know-how acquired by working in several research laboratories in Italy and abroad. In particular the experience gathered in the solid state field at the TASC-INFM and ELETTRA laboratories in Trieste and in developing a probe microscopes in the Engineering Department at RICE university of Houston (USA).

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In 1997 A.P.E. Research began operation in Area Science Park developing his first STM Ultra High vacuum microscopy system. Since then the company begin a series of collaborations with INFM, ELETTRA and ISM-CNR in Bologna for the production of customized instruments for the research labs. In 1999 the collaboration with the Italian National Institute for Condensed Matter Physics (INFM) was officially established with the participation of the company at the spin-off program of the institute. The first product of the joint venture is a SNOM microscope developed from an original project of the INFM section in Pisa. In the same year A.P.E. Research opened his SPM Biology Lab in collaboration with the University of Trieste. The aim of the research is to develop the techniques to investigate the biological structures by means of probe microscopes (mainly AFM and SNOM). Another Laboratory for the software of real time imaging, has opened during 2000. Our software engineers have been supported by fellows from ICS that work on the project financed by UNIDO on the development of a common platform.

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