News
Researchers starting companies
Berlin pools its start-up activities in the Science & Startups network to promote science spin-offs:
The economic potential of science spin-offs is indisputable. Despite government incentives, however, their number remains comparatively low. Berlin is now pooling together all its start-up promotion activities in a…
Diode lasers meet soil crumbs
Why portable Raman systems are now used in agriculture – the RaMBo measuring system from the Laser Sensors Lab at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut in Adlershof:
Last November, it was finally done. The RaMBo measuring system was deployed for the first time on a field in Potsdam-Marquardt. Its goal: to determine the nutrient content of the soil. Phosphorus and nitrogen, in…
ICULTA is becoming a flagship of the UV LED community
Review of the 2021 edition of the International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications:
For the second time, ICULTA – the ‘International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications’ – presented a forum for the UV LED community to exchange ideas and results on cutting-edge topics. The program of last…
ASTI Mobile Robotics aims to create more than 120 new jobs in 2021
The digital transformation has accelerated enormously due to the pandemic and ensures exponential growth for the robotics company:
In the first quarter of 2021, the ASTI Mobile Robotics Group added more than 40 people to #teamASTI, aiming to strengthen its workforce and, in this way, meet the current mobile robotics market demands while also…
New X-ray microscope put into operation at BESSY II
MYSTIIC offers higher precision and more options for scanning surfaces and investigating bulk samples in transmission:
A new X-ray microscope has started operation at the Energy Materials in situ Lab (EMIL). It is a scanning transmission X-ray microscope designed to examine both sample surfaces and bulk sample. With the soft X-ray…
Direct observation of the ad- and desorption of guest atoms into a mesoporous host
Research at the PTB X-ray beamline of the HZB BESSY II synchrotron lays the foundations for new insights into energy materials:
Battery electrodes, storage devices for gases, and some catalyst materials have tiny functional pores that can accommodate atoms, ions, and molecules. How these guest atoms are absorbed into or released from the pores…
BAM researches the risks of tiny polymer particles
The toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics is being investigated in two large EU projects:
Particularly fibrous particles of micro- and nanoplastics are suspected of being harmful. They enter the human body via the air we breathe or the food we eat. Initial data indicate that they could lead to irritation…
Real-time optical distance sensing of up-conversion nanoparticles with a precision of 2.8 nanometers
Team of researchers demonstrated ultra-precise localization and tracking of fluorescent nanoparticles:
Sub-diffraction limited localization of fluorescent emitters is a major goal of microscopy imaging. It is of key importance for so-called super-resolution, a technique that was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in…
New DFG project on neuromorphic applications of ferroelectric layers
IKZ researchers investigate the relationship between structural and electrical changes during switching of ferroelectric layers:
Ferroelectric films are used for a variety of technological applications, such as non-volatile memory devices or ferroelectric field effect transistors (FeFETs). These applications exploit their property of exhibiting…
Change in the Management of the Forschungsverbund Berlin
Dr. Manuela Urban left the FVB / Dr. Falk Fabich steps in as Acting Managing Director:
Dr. Falk Fabich will step in as Acting Managing Director of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) – from April 13, 2021 until a successor has been found for the position, by December 31, 2021 at the latest. This has…
LTB strengthens its Research and Development department
With Dr. Lutz Pfeifer as the new Head of Research Spectroscopy, and Norman Bensmann as the new Head of Laser Development, the company is realigning itself:
Managing Director Christian Scholz: “We want to spread the growing scope and requirements of the departments over several shoulders. In recent years, we have grown steadily in both areas. In order to do justice to the…
BAM certifies the world's first reference materials for the determination of the fluorescence quantum yield
Twelve certified reference materials allow reliable and comparable characterization:
Fluorescent materials are used in many areas today: on the security codes of banknotes, in plasma screens or in medical diagnostics. The crucial factor here is that the materials luminesce intensively over a long…
Topological protection versus degree of entanglement of two-photon light in photonic topological insulators
Researchers from HU, MBI, and the University of Central Florida (USA) have identified criteria for robust transport:
Originally discovered in condensed matter systems, topological insulators are two-dimensional materials that support scattering-free (uni-directional) transport along their edges, even in the presence of defects and…
FBH presents advances in UV LEDs towards application at ICULTA conference
From disinfection to use against pathogens on human skin:
The Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) presents current research results at the virtual ICULTA 2021. In particular, the reliability of UVB and UVC LEDs has been significantly improved – an important step towards their…
New insights into the structure of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites
Team at HZB has analysed structural data of photovoltaic materials with a novel model:
In photovoltaics, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have made a rapid career. But many questions about the crystalline structure of this surprisingly complex class of materials remain unanswered. Now, a team at HZB…
Berlin Adlershof: Facts and Figures
The Berlin Adlershof Science City is one of the most successful high-technology sites in Germany and Berlin’s largest media site. It is home to 1,200 companies and scientific institutions on an area of 4.6 km² –…
Bundling unique European expertise for spaceborne devices
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, SweGaN AB, and University of Bristol are partnering in the Kassiopeia project to develop high-performance Ka-band GaN MMICs e.g. for satellite communications and radar applications:
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, SweGaN AB, and University of Bristol are partnering in the European Space Agency funded Kassiopeia project. The teams join forces to develop high-performance Ka-band GaN MMICs (monolithic…
New 785 nm DFB laser in TO-5 package
TOPTICA eagleyard presents a new chip generation with high performance and excellent signal-to-noise ratio:
At this year's virtual Photonics West, TOPTICA eagleyard presented the DFB-785 laser diode, a chip relaunch based on proven DFB technology. The DFB laser diode delivers 100 mW output power. It provides excellent…
Detection of anisotropy in the optical constants of quartz crystals for soft X-rays
In the PTB, methods for determining the optical constants of materials with synchrotron radiation have been established:
Quartz is an important substrate material for semiconductor structures and is used in a wide variety of industrial fields, for example as a substrate for various mirrors, nanostructures or other functional surfaces…
Solar cells: Losses made visible on the nanoscale
Researchers from HZB and University of Utah, USA, have shown how contact layers of silicon solar cells generate loss currents and what their physical origin is:
Solar cells made of crystalline silicon achieve peak efficiencies, especially in combination with selective contacts made of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). However, their efficiency is limited by losses in these contact…