Keithley Series 2600 System SourceMeter® Instruments Cited Among World's Top 100 Technologies of 2006

Business Wire, August 1, 2006

CLEVELAND -- Keithley Instruments, Inc. (NYSE:KEI), a leader in solutions for emerging measurement needs, announces that "Research & Development Magazine" has named Keithley Instruments, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, as one of the recipients of the 2006 R&D 100 Award for the Series 2600 System SourceMeter(R) Instruments. Winners of this prestigious award are chosen each year by a panel of industry experts who review hundreds of entries from universities, private corporations, and labs around the world to select the 100 most technologically significant products and processes introduced during the previous year. Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards have a strong track record of identifying innovative research, products, and solutions. Including this most recent award, Keithley has now won an R&D 100 Award 20 times during the competition's history.

Exceptional Performance and Speed at Low Cost. This 2006 R&D 100 Award recognizes Keithley's achievement in creating a new instrument design that reduces the time and cost of making highly accurate electrical measurements in critical applications, such as semiconductor and nanotechnology materials development, electronic product R&D, and manufacturing quality assurance. The Series 2600 instruments are able to measure current and voltage in a tightly coordinated, swift method, an important capability for electronic component manufacturers who must make these types of measurement as rapidly as thousands of times a second.

Mark Hoersten, Keithley Vice President, Business Management noted, "Before the Series 2600, most automated test equipment (ATE) systems of this type were large, high-cost, difficult to use, and relatively slow in making measurements." Each of the Series 2600 units is the equivalent of six electrical measuring instruments in a single box, and is capable of storing and running hundreds of predefined tests. When used in an ATE system, either singly or linked together in multiples, they can reduce test times by up to a factor of ten compared to older designs, reduce test equipment hardware and software costs by up to 75 percent, and occupy just a fraction of the space on a plant floor.

For More Information. For details on the Series 2600 or any of Keithley's SourceMeter Instruments, visit http://www.keithley.com/pr/058. Or contact the company at:

Telephone:    800-688-9951
                        440-248-0400
          FAX:          440-248-6168
          E-mail:       publisher@keithley.com
          Internet:     www.keithley.com
          Address:      Keithley Instruments, Inc.
                        28775 Aurora Road
                        Cleveland, OH 44139-1891

About Keithley. With 60 years of measurement expertise, Keithley Instruments has become a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems from DC to RF (radio frequency). Its products solve emerging measurement needs in production testing, process monitoring, product development, and research. The company's customers are scientists and engineers in the worldwide electronics industry involved with advanced materials research, semiconductor device and wafer characterization and functional test, and the production of end products such as electronic assemblies or portable wireless devices. The value Keithley provides its customers is a combination of precision measurement technology and a rich understanding of their applications to improve the quality, throughput, and yield of their products.

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