Fraunhofer ENAS

While nature slowly awakens from the cold season and the first soft colors are returning with the spring blossoms after the gray of winter, our new exhibition “𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵 – 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻” as part of our series “𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝘁” also sets colorful and fresh accents at our institute.   We cordially invite all art enthusiasts to the 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 at Fraunhofer ENAS – in the year of Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture – on 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗮𝘁 𝟲 𝗽.𝗺. Join the artist Peter Piek on a journey of discovery through different aspects of his work – from paintings to instrumental music and performance art. Experience the powerful intensity of the colors as well as the sophisticated instrumental music composition and let yourself be touched by the magic of his creative process regardless of the type of expression.   Please register for the vernissage at events@enas.fraunhofer.de until 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟳, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. More information about the artist and the exhibition can be found on our webpage: https://lnkd.in/e6rRjPaZ   We look forward to a great evening with you, breathtaking art and first-class music!   We would already like to draw your attention to a second highlight in 2025: Peter Piek will be giving a 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁 as part of his exhibition at our institute on 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟵, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 – a very special highlight that you shouldn't miss.   #Research #Science #Art #Chemnitz2025 ©Peter Piek

𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘇 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 and 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 – this has now been confirmed by a recent review paper in the renowned Nature Microsystems and Nanoengineering journal.   In the European Capital of Culture 2025, the development of micromechanical ultrasonic transducers as an important future technology is being actively promoted. Without these powerful microsystems, today's medical diagnostics or the testing, inspection and analysis of materials in the industrial sector, for example, would hardly be imaginable.   In recent years, researchers at Fraunhofer ENAS, together with scientists from the Center for Micro and Nano Technologies at Technische Universität Chemnitz, have made significant progress in the field of piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers (PMUT) and developed a technology platform with which the transducers based on aluminum nitride and aluminum scandium nitride can be manufactured efficiently and in large quantities. These research successes have now secured 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘇, 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟳𝟬 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, a place 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗣𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀”.   The review paper, which provides an interesting overview of more than 40 years of research in the field of PMUT technologies, can be read here: https://lnkd.in/e8C8fhwS   #UltrasonicTransducer #Ultrasound #Ultrasonic ©omersukrugoksu/Getty Images Signature/Canva, samudri7/Canva

To infinity and beyond: In order to identify new emerging technologies for aerospace and to exploit their potential for exploring our skies and outer space, the European Space Agency - ESA organized its second workshop on “Advanced Manufacturing of Electronics” this week.   Our colleague, Valeri Fitz, was also on site at ESA in Oxfordshire, UK, and had the opportunity to present our research on “Reliability Analysis of Piezo-Jetted Conductive Tracks on Ultra-Thin Dielectric Barrier Layers Applied to Metallic 3D Structures” to the workshop audience from science and industry.   In his talk, he showed how turbine blades, which are typically used in aircraft engines in the aviation industry, can be effectively functionalized with conductive and dielectric materials without affecting the aerodynamics. Such materials enable for example sensor integration, rerouting of electrical signals or printed sensor materials that can fulfill measurement tasks, such as measuring pressure fluctuations on the blade surface, and reduce the overall footprint and complexity for the electronics.   The materials used have been tested for reliability at Fraunhofer ENAS – both using simulation models via finite element methods (FEM), which allow the stress on the materials to be calculated, as well as by comparing them with thermal cycling tests. Such stress tests can experimentally simulate harsh environmental situations, such as extreme cold and heat, in order to simulate typical aging and damage processes that inevitably occur to the materials during operation. The scientific results can also be transferred to aerospace applications. In this way, potential errors can be detected and eliminated even before the expedition begins.   🚀We are curious to see whether one day technologies and materials like these from Chemnitz will also fly to Venus or Mercury or another celestial body to be discovered. 🛰️🪐   #PrintedElectronics #AdditiveManufacturing #Electronics #FiniteElementMethod #Simulation #Space

Attending an online meeting while driving, surfing the internet on your smartphone or finding out about the latest news from around the world – that is the vision of autonomous driving. In the future, highly automated self-driving vehicles will chauffeur us through traffic autonomously – whether to go shopping, to the office or on vacation.   However, such highly complex self-driving vehicles require efficient real-time monitoring of the environment in order to independently and situationally detect obstacles on the road and avoid accidents. This requires enormous real-time and energy-intensive computing power from the on-board electronics and control units in order to process the growing amount of environmental information and to transport people or goods safely and reliably from A to B.   The national 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 "𝗘𝗠𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘" lead by Infineon Technologies AG has taken important steps to make autonomous driving a reality and to make those vehicle services commercially available: Over the past three years, the consortium, consisting of 12 partners, including Fraunhofer ENAS, has developed a platform concept for efficient and high-performance computing network architectures that detects and processes data from critical events in real time – from situation recognition to processor control – while operating in an extremely energy and resource efficient manner.   In order to meet these requirements for better computing power and greater efficiency, new approaches in the field of microelectronics are also required. The flawless functioning of the sensitive on-board electronics based on key microelectronic components is essential for the functional safety of the overall system and ultimately for the reliable navigation of the vehicle in traffic.   Coordinated by our colleague Jain Chacko, the team at Fraunhofer ENAS addressed precisely this issue as part of the project. They developed a concept based on a digital twin to monitor and predict failure risks in automotive power electronic components, which are responsible for controlling the electric motor in electric cars. This virtual representation of the used components enables real-time monitoring of power electronics’ health and identify failure risks at an early stage. The feedback of the digital twin allows dynamic powertrain operating mode adjustments, preventing failures and extending the lifetime of the component. This not only increases the reliability and service life of the entire power electronics, but also contributes to greater safety on the road, as breakdowns on the open road, for example, can be avoided.   The project will help to make autonomous driving fit for the future and thus significantly change both driving comfort and the driving experience in tomorrow´s mobility.   #Automotive #AutonomousDriving #DigitalTwin ©Brad Day/Artlist/Canva, hinzebeat/pixabay/Canva

Inkjet-printed heart of a fuel cell: How to print high performance catalyst layers with controlled platinum distribution directly on thin membranes?   This answers Dana Mitra, research associate at Fraunhofer ENAS, and colleagues in a 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 published at the recent issue of the 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 from Elsevier. They have succeeded in printing catalyst layers directly onto proton-exchange membranes for fuel cells with industrial-grade inkjet printing equipment and ink development expertise. This paves the way from lab to scaling up a true digital, non-contact and direct printing process, where each single voxel can be controlled to deposit catalysts only where they are needed. A very good result of the H2GO project “R2MEA” (03B11027C) funded by the Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr, which is researching innovative production processes for the manufacturing of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) – the heart of fuel cells     Curious to find out more? Read the full paper entitled “𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗲 (𝗣𝗘𝗠) 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗷𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴” here: https://lnkd.in/epSaCGZq   The paper is the result of a close collaboration with Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE. We would especially like to thank Kathleen Heinrich I Andreas Willert I Sophia Gierse I Christian Zeiner I Frank Siegel as well as Prof. Ralf Zichner.   #Inkjet #FunctionalPrinting #FuelCell #PEM #FraunhoferENAS #Platinum #Catalyst #DigitalManufacturing #OpenAccess #H2GO #R2MEA

On the road in Brussels: How can semiconductor manufacturing be made more sustainable? This is the key question of the “HaloFreeEtch” project launched last year, which is pursuing new approaches to halogen-free and sustainable etching.   The partners have now met in Belgium to discuss the first results and to exchange ideas on the next steps on the way to redefining semiconductor technologies in Europe. As Fraunhofer ENAS, we are delighted to be working on this exciting topic together with our partners and thus contributing not only to groundbreaking innovations, but also to the future of the industry!   #Semiconductor #Research

Are you already curious about what to expect at the upcoming Smart Systems Integration Conference (SSI) in 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲? The online program already gives you small preview: from 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟴 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, you can look forward to a varied agenda with inspiring keynote speakers and experts from industry and science on the future of smart systems.   Further details about the conference and an overview of three exciting days filled with presentations, strategy panels and podium discussions can be found here: https://lnkd.in/e9G8kmeM   #Events #Research #SSI #SSI2025 #SmartSystem #SystemSolutions #SmartSystemIntegration

Fraunhofer ENAS is now 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗦𝗢 𝟱𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟭 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱! We are happy to have reached this great milestone in our commitment to greater sustainability and the responsible use of resources.   By introducing and establishing an energy-efficient management system, we are providing important impulses for the implementation of the Fraunhofer climate strategy. As part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Fraunhofer ENAS is committed to becoming climate-neutral by 2030 and positioning science as a pioneer for sustainability. Together we are making science more climate-friendly – globally, but also intensively at the research location Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025.   In addition to improving our energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energies, our focus in the field of energy is on reducing energy consumption. In order to identify further potential, we want to establish a systematic energy monitoring this year in order to take another important step towards a sustainable future.   The basis for the introduction and integration of a second certified management system was the quality management system according to ISO 9001 that had already been introduced at Fraunhofer ENAS.   If you would like to find out more about how we are actively shaping the energy transition, reducing our carbon footprint and further optimizing our energy requirements, just contact us. Our energy management team Franziska Jentzsch and Thomas Ronneburger will be happy to provide further insights.   More information can be found on our webpage:   ➡️ 𝗜𝗦𝗢 𝟱𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟭 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: https://lnkd.in/ee_U9tRQ   ➡️ 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗵𝗼𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗦: https://lnkd.in/e8B4bj2x   ---   In the picture (from left to right): Dr. Tina Kießling, Head of Administration and Quality, Franziska Jentzsch and Thomas Ronneburger from the energy management team at Fraunhofer ENAS   #Energy #EnergyTransition #EnergyEfficiency #EnergyManagement #ISO50001 #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability

From electromobility and renewable energy to IT and industrial infrastructures – power electronics based on the semiconductor silicon carbide (SiC) are used in a variety of applications in today's modern world.   In the three-year 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 "𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗦𝗶𝗖𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿", a consortium of Fraunhofer institutes – including Fraunhofer IISB, Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE, Fraunhofer IWM and Fraunhofer ENAS – is developing new key technologies that will reduce material losses and device thickness while increasing the thermomechanical stability of assembled SiC chips.   The result will be cost-effective and robust SiC substrates as well as significantly thinner SiC chips using more resource-efficient processing technologies. This will further accelerate the market development for efficient SiC power electronics.   We are pleased to contribute to the ThinSiCPower project and to make progress in this exciting field together with our Fraunhofer colleagues. 👍 All information can be found in the latest press release: https://lnkd.in/eHzVRUUQ   #SiliconCarbide #PowerElectronics #Semiconductor ©Daniel Karmann/Fraunhofer IISB

Would you like to be inspired by art while enjoying your lunch break? Then you should not miss our “𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸” on 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. From 𝟭𝟭 𝗮.𝗺. 𝘁𝗼 𝟮 𝗽.𝗺. you can expect not only a “cultural snack” at lunchtime, but also a true enjoyment of art at Fraunhofer ENAS.   Art lovers and enthusiasts are cordially invited to experience the works of our current exhibition entitled “𝗿ēə𝗻'𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁/𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁” within the series "𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝘁" on a guided tour of the exhibition at our institute and to exchange ideas directly with the artist in a personal conversation.   In his work, the artist Daniel Krüger questions the representation and portrayal of nature and landscape in painting, responding to a collective visual memory to renegotiate his medium. These (re)actions manifest in the form of hybrid, experimental, and conceptual panel paintings that implement new materials and methods. In these abstract to figurative compositions, a dialogue between fragmented motifs and the physical tactility of the image carrier arises through differentiation of base, glaze, color layering, and graphic outline. The presentation “rēən'vent/reinvent” at Fraunhofer ENAS shows artistic results from research practice and material-based experiments.   Further information on the current exhibition can be found on our website: https://lnkd.in/ehzjAjw6   Please register in advance at events@enas.fraunhofer.de.   See you at Fraunhofer ENAS for a creative lunch break!   #Research #Science #Art #Chemnitz2025 ©Daniel Krüger