Press Releases

Andreas Tünnermann, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and the Institute for Applied Physics at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his scientific and social commitment.

In recent years, micro-optical projectors have become well established for automotive applications. These projectors enable cars to communicate with their surroundings. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have now developed a dynamic indicator light that guarantees maximum visibility in a compact form, even under daylight conditions. The blinker will be presented for the first time at OPTATEC 2024 in Frankfurt (Main) from May 14 to 16.

With the handheld scanner goSCOUT3D, Fraunhofer IOF researchers have developed a mobile sensor that enables high-resolution 3D measurements of complex objects. To further automate this process, researchers have now connected the scanner to a robot dog of the Boston Dynamics brand. Doing so is supposed to make measurements, e.g., in quality assurance, even more efficient as well as unburden employees in future. The unit consisting of sensor head and robot will now be presented for the first time at the CONTROL trade fair in Stuttgart from April 23-26.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have developed a very compact spectrometer module. It maps spectra from 39 optical fibers onto one camera sensor in a small space. This is made possible by a special micro-optical system. The technology, which has potential for applications in quality assurance and analytics, will be presented at analytica trade fair in Munich from April 9 to 12.

Researchers from Jena, Würzburg and Potsdam have successfully developed a design for the smallest system of its kind so far to take highly secure quantum communication to space: Led by Fraunhofer IOF, the project CubEniK developed an ultracompact payload for a satellite the size of a shoe box, a so called “CubeSat”. The goal of the mini satellite is to transmit a secure quantum key over a distance of 300 kilometers between two ground stations in Jena and Munich.

For the first time, a team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and the University of New Mexico have succeeded in cooling silica glass by 67 kelvins through optical laser cooling. The researchers from Jena and Albuquerque have now published the results in the journal Optics Express.

German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena today as part of the event series "Werkstatt des Wandels" (Workshop of Change). He thereby recognized the institute as a place of successful transformation that contributes to new opportunities for society, the economy and industry.

ESA plans to launch its FLEX mission in 2025. The aim is to collect data on the Earth's vegetation from space. For the spectrometer on board the satellite, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena have developed and manufactured a double-slit assembly with exceptional accuracy as well as two high-precision mirrors. The double slit will be presented at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco from January 30 to February 1.

Measuring how Earth is losing its cool - that is the undertaking of the FORUM mission. The European Space Agency's (ESA) satellite mission, scheduled for 2027, aims to analyze Earth's heat budget in order to better understand global warming and Earth’s climate system. For the spectrometer on board the satellite, researchers from Jena have developed a novel diamond structure that enables precise measurements on the far-infrared spectrum. The first flight hardware has now been delivered.

How can computers become even more powerful with the help of light while consuming less energy? How can we produce tiny micro-optics faster and more cost-effectively in the future? And how can findings from nano-optics be applied to the industrial use of quantum sensors? The prize winners of this year's "Applied Photonics Award" are addressing these and other questions about the future. The Young Researcher Award was presented to the five award winners of 2023 on October 12 as part of the "Photonics Days Jena".