2021

The Internet of Things is growing - but how do we shape its growth in a way that is sustainable? A promising approach has been developed in the Fraunhofer flagship project ZEPOWEL: A toolbox of modular and energy-efficient hardware for use in sensor networks of the IoT. As a project partner, Fraunhofer IISB has been developing extremely efficient power converters with SiC and GaN components. These have ultra-low switching and conduction losses and can be modularly coupled with the IoT core to form intelligent power supply systems.

Since September 1, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Schulze is the new director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB in Erlangen. The semiconductor expert takes over the position from Prof. Martin März, who has led Fraunhofer IISB on an acting basis since 2018. Prof. Jörg Schulze will simultaneously hold the Chair of Electron Devices (LEB) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), with which Fraunhofer IISB collaborates closely in research and teaching.

Die Prognosen sind sich einig. Sie alle sagen einen drastisch steigenden Bedarf an elektrischen Speichern für mobile und stationäre Anwendungen voraus. Um die Nachfrage zu decken, bedarf es erheblicher Anstrengungen bei der Weiterentwicklung etablierter Batteriesysteme. Gleichzeitig müssen verstärkt neuartige Materialsysteme, so genannte Post-Lithium-Systeme, in einem absehbaren Zeitraum zur Marktreife geführt werden. Dabei bietet sich bei der Technologieentwicklung der große Vorteil, von Beginn an auf nachhaltige Zellkonzepte zu setzen. Diese berücksichtigen neben Sicherheits- und Kostenaspekten die Substitution kritischer Rohstoffe, ein recycling-gerechtes Design und weitere Anforderungen der Kreislaufwirtschaft. Eine vielversprechende Batterietechnologie dafür sind die Aluminium-Ionen-Batterien, die am Fraunhofer THM in Freiberg entwickelt werden.

A unique XRT tool was installed recently at Fraunhofer IISB to revolutionize state-of-the-art semiconductor material defect characterization techniques. Rigaku Corporation and Fraunhofer IISB have built the Center of Expertise for X-ray Topography in Erlangen to support the semiconductor industry worldwide in improving and better understanding their wafer quality and yield by employing the Rigaku XRTmicron advanced X-ray topography tools.

Saxony's Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow visits the Fraunhofer Technology Center High Performance Materials THM in Freiberg. (Press Relase in German)

Our expert on sector coupling Dr. Richard Öchsner, head of the Energy Technology Group in the Intelligent Energy Systems Department at Fraunhofer IISB, talks to correspondent Tina Wenzel about energy storage and sector coupling.

Theme Special "Mobility of the future" at Innovationskunst ("the art of innovation"): Aerospace electronics expert Florian Hilpert answers a variety of questions in a podcast about the topic "flying electrically"

As the only research institution worldwide, Fraunhofer IISB now operates a 200 mm capable AIXTRON SiC epitaxial Planetary Reactor.

Intelligent operational strategies are the key to optimization in complex sector-coupled energy systems. The new IISBinsights video gives you a brief insight into this.

The new book "Ammonothermal Synthesis and Crystal Growth of Nitrides" provides a collection of contributed chapters, delivering a comprehensive overview of topics related to the synthesis and crystal growth of nitride compounds under supercritical ammonia conditions. One of the editors is our colleague Dr. Elke Meissner, Group Manager GaN & AlN at the Fraunhofer IISB.