Press Releases

Spintronic devices are based on using the fundamental spin of electrons to carry and store information. Their use would not require charge currents for their operation and would lead to improved energy efficiency with lower power consumption, higher data processing speed and better integration of memory and logic. However, suitable materials for new spintronic implementations are needed. Their fabrication as well as analysis require state-of-the-art methods from nanotechnology. This is why researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids and the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS have launched a joint project to investigate novel materials for spintronics. The project is being funded by Sächsische Aufbaubank.

The industry of the future will become more digital, more efficient and more automated. Autonomous driving systems and robots will make human work easier. To make this vision a reality, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is developing sensors, optical components and actuators based on microelectromechanical systems that detect the environment and make interaction safe. In this context, sensors are becoming key technology of digitization: they form the interface between machine and human. The institute is now presenting some of its latest developments - such as innovative vector scanner modules - at LASER World of PHOTONICS in Munich.

Optical microsystems are forging the Path of Light: The photonic systems of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS can modulate light using small deflectable mirrors to create images and structures in a unique way. Hereby the research institute is developing spatial light modulators with up to several million mirrors on a semiconductor chip. The main areas of application for mirror matrices are in the fields of microlithography in the deep ultraviolet range, production of printed circuit boards (PCBs), semiconductor inspection and metrology, as well as in adaptive optics, astronomy, holography and microscopy. With its developments in this field, Fraunhofer IPMS is currently a world leader.

Everyone is talking about quantum computers. With the help of high interconnection of as many qubits (two-state quantum systems) as possible, massive amounts of data are to be processed more easily, quickly and securely in the future. In the PhoQuant project, a consortium led by the quantum start-up Q.ANT is now researching photonic quantum computer chips - made in Germany - which can also be operated at room temperature. One of the 14 consortium partners is the Dresden-based Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS.

The economic consequences of the current chip shortage highlight the importance of microelectronics. In order to prepare for the future, technological sovereignty in microelectronics research and development is required, in addition to new production facilities in Europe. This is precisely the challenge that the High Performance Center "Functional Integration for Micro-/Nanoelectronics" is addressing. It combines the competencies of four microelectronics institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as well as of research groups at universities in Dresden and Chemnitz. This way, the center offers a whole spectrum of microelectronics and micromechanics technologies to both major players in the microelectronics industry and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs in particular can profit from a low-threshold service through the provision of technology platforms, which allows them to benefit from leading edge technology without the burden of excessively high development cost.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a very fast technology for determining whether a tumor has been fully removed — before the patient even leaves the operating theater. Using a combination of laser scanning microscopy and fluorescent tumor markers, doctors can detect any remaining cancer cells immediately after operations.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS offers ready-made, platform-independent IP core modules. With IP modules, developers can quickly adopt complete functional areas in standard products such as SoCs, microcontrollers, FPGAs and ASICs. This allows a significant reduction of development times and costs. With EMSA5, Fraunhofer IPMS offers a processor core based on the open RISC-V instruction set architecture. In the latest release, the institute has ported Tensorflow lite to the EMSA5 RISC-V. Thus, the EMSA5 RISC-V processor core is now ready for use in Edge AI applications, for example sensor data evaluation, gesture control or vibration analysis.

Together with 24 German research institutions and companies, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is working on a quantum computer with improved error rates in the collaborative project QSolid coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich. The goal is to make Germany a global leader in the field of quantum technology and thus to maintain independence and open up numerous new applications in science and industry. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has allocated € 76.3 million in funding for the next five years.

The goal of the cluster project M3Infekt, initiated by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, was to develop the technical basis for more comprehensive vital monitoring and care of Covid-19 patients outside of intensive care units, to relieve the burden on this critical infrastructure. Now that the project has been completed, the participating institutes have presented their results. The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS from Dresden made an important contribution to the development of a mobile and powerful spirometer with the help of its advanced CMUT ultrasonic sensor technology. The device for analyzing lung function is part of an AI-controlled, decentralized patient monitoring system and will be further developed in future projects.

In the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's lighthouse project NeurOSmart, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS together with four other institutes (ISIT, IMS, IWU, IAIS) are jointly researching particularly energy-efficient and intelligent sensors for the next generation of autonomous systems. In the process, the bridges between perception and information processing are being redefined by innovative electronics.