For Further Information
Please Contact:

Gary K. Willis
President and CEO

                                                          For Immediate Release
                                                          ---------------------

                           ZYGO CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
                       ACQUISITION OF SIGHT SYSTEMS, INC.

MIDDLEFIELD, CONNECTICUT (August 19, 1997)........Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ:ZIGO)
and Sight Systems, Inc. today announced the acquisition by Zygo of Sight
Systems. In the transaction, which will be accounted for as a
pooling-of-interests, Zygo acquired all of the outstanding stock of Sight
Systems in exchange for 287,400 shares of Zygo's common stock.

     Sight Systems, Inc., located in Newbury Park, California, designs,
develops, manufactures, and markets high precision application-specific machine
vision metrology systems. These vision systems are primarily used by customers
in the data storage industry in production to improve their production
efficiency and manufacturing yields.

     Commenting on the acquisition of Sight Systems, Gary K. Willis, president
and chief executive officer of Zygo, said, "We are pleased to add Sight Systems
to our corporate family. The addition of their vision systems and software
capabilities will allow us to offer more complete solutions to our data storage
customers as well as allowing us to pursue other industry applications by
integrating our existing metrology systems with SSI vision capability." David
Grant, president of Sight Systems, Inc., commented, "The combination with Zygo
will allow us to further our penetration in the data storage industry as a
result of key relationships Zygo has in place today. Beyond this, the merger
allows Sight to pursue other vision solutions for new markets, further
accelerating our growth. We are all very excited to join the Zygo family."


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     The results for Sight Systems, Inc. for the 12 months ended December 31,
1996 included net sales of approximately $3.5 million. Zygo recently reported
its third quarter results for fiscal 1997 with net sales of $61.7 million for
the nine months ended March 31, 1997, up some 52% from the comparable nine-month
period of a year earlier; and net earnings of $.83 per share, excluding
nonrecurring acquisition charges, for the nine-month period, a 73% increase from
the $.48 per share earnings reported in the comparable nine-month period of
fiscal 1996.

     Zygo Corporation design, develops, manufactures, and markets high
performance measurement and yield improvement instruments, systems, and
accessories used in high technology industries. The Company is headquartered in
Middlefield, Connecticut, and also has operations in Longmont, Colorado, and in
Newbury Park, Sunnyvale, and Simi Valley, California.

                                 *      *      *

     This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which reflect the
Company's current judgment on certain issues. Because such statements apply to
future events, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the
actual results to differ materially. Important factors which could cause actual
results to differ materially are described in the Company's reports on Form 10-K
and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


                                  Page 2 of 2

August 19, 1997   *    *     *