Being able to save large amounts of electric energy and making them available for mobile access are important prerequisites for the further development of renewable energies. Within the framework of the »Sustainability Center«, Fraunhofer IAF, together with partners from the University of Freiburg, is working on the development of super capacitors based on graphene. Such devices promise many advantages for application in mobile electrical power supply systems, for instance in electric cars.
Synthetic diamond is almost exclusively being used in industrial applications. So far, man-made diamonds could not be produced in quantities high enough to establish them as gemstones. Researchers have now developed the production process of synthetic diamond to such a mature stage, that it is possible to grow 600 diamonds at one time in a plasma reactor. This globally unique reactor type operated at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF in Freiburg facilitates the production of single crystalline diamond with an extremely high level of purity.
Its theoretical properties made graphene a »wonder material« overnight: it is up to 200 times harder than steel, six times lighter, strong but flexible, environmentally friendly and the world’s thinnest material. Measuring only a single atom layer, about a one hundred-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, it still retains a remarkable level of conductivity.
Climate change, resource scarcity, energy turnaround – these challenges of today’s society require sustainable solutions. Finding these solutions is the aim of the newly founded »Sustainability Performance Center«, consisting of the five Fraunhofer institutes of Freiburg, the University of Freiburg and industry partners.
Fraunhofer IAF offers graduates of different subjects the opportunity to pursue a scientific career within the scope of a PhD project. Our PhD-students present themselves in a staff-interview: Thomas Gerrer reports on his work at Fraunhofer IAF.
Power electronics of the future cannot be imagined without lll-V semiconductors: Smartphones, LEDs or lasers benefit from the special physical properties of these materials. Under very rare conditions, however, these materials can also cause toxic effects. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF is therefore elaborating a data basis for the embracing risk assessment of lll-V semiconductors. Thus, potential risks can be avoided along the entire value chain.
Under the project management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, a group of scientists is developing a new generation of voltage converters: the improved gallium nitride technology promises energy-saving, fast and reliably operating systems – even in high temperatures.
Synthetic diamond crystals are of interest to many industrial sectors. Their unique properties make them a suitable material for numerous applications including lenses for high-energy laser optics, X-ray radiation detectors and ophthalmological scalpels. Fraunhofer scientists produce artificial diamonds in all shapes and sizes ranging from discs to three-dimensional shapes and even hollow spheres.
LEDs are durable and save energy. Now researchers of Fraunhofer IAF have found a way to make LED lamps even more compact while supplying more light than commercially available models. The key to success: transistors made of the semiconductor material gallium nitride.
On Monday, 9th of December, the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) of the University of Freiburg held its annual Research Day.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF will be extended by a new energy efficient laboratory building. Fraunhofer president Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer will perform the groundbreaking ceremony today in attendance of representatives of politics, economy and science
Public lecture of Federico Capasso, Harvard University, on 17th of july at Fraunhofer IAF.
Researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology have achieved the wireless transmission of 40 Gbit/s at 240 GHz over a distance of one kilometer.
For the first time, researchers have managed to use polycristalline diamond to manufacture an optical circuit.
When satellite Proba-V flies into space in the coming weeks in order to begin its earth observation, the first European device based on the semiconductor gallium nitride will be on board.
The human eye cannot see through wood, paper, or plastic. But a compact radar with a modular design now makes it possible to see the invisible: The millimeter wave sensor penetrates non-transparent material.
Special Christmas lecture of Prof. Oliver Ambacher
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