Awards 2001 until 2010

As part of the Thuringia Innovation Day, which took place on 28 September 2010 at the Erfurt trade fair, Dr. Martin Bischoff was awarded the prize of the Thuringia Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research (STIFT) for his outstanding doctoral thesis. Mr Bischoff completed his doctoral thesis at the Fraunhofer IOF as part of a BMBF-funded joint project with the support of the companies Carl Zeiss, Jenoptik, Optics Balzers Jena and Layertec Mellingen and in cooperation with the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

The aim of his doctoral thesis was to optimise the coating process of plasma-assisted vapour deposition in order to avoid the usual optical losses. Martin Bischoff developed a process in which optical losses in the deep ultraviolet spectral range could be greatly reduced.

The STIFT special prize for knowledge-based innovation potential was awarded to Prof. Dr. Jens Limpert.

At the annual conference of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at the Schauspielhaus Leipzig, Marcel Sieler was honoured with the 1st Hugo Geiger Prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, for his outstanding diploma thesis, which he completed at the Fraunhofer IOF.

As part of his diploma thesis, Marcel Sieler developed a multi-channel projection optic in which the overall length can be drastically reduced while maintaining the required image brightness. The first prototypes have a thickness of less than 3 mm.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann, Director of Fraunhofer IOF and Director of the Institute of Applied Physics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, has been named a 2010 OSA Fellow by the "Optical Society of America" for his outstanding work and leadership in the development of high-power solid-state and fibre lasers and his pioneering achievements in laser micromachining.

Prof. Dr. Norbert Kaiser, Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer IOF and Honorary Professor at Jena University of Applied Sciences, has been elected an honorary member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics SPIE for his work in the field of optical coatings.

As part of the Thuringia Innovation Day 2008, which took place on 5 November at the Erfurt Exhibition Centre, Marcel Hornaff was awarded one of the STIFT prizes for outstanding application-oriented theses for his diploma thesis entitled "Process investigations into solder bumping joining technology", which he completed at the Fraunhofer IOF.

The aim of the thesis was to optimise the process of soldering optical components using solder bumping (laser beam soldering process).

In recognition of his outstanding study and work results and to promote his research work in the field of microstructured optics and photonics, Mr. Hans-Christoph Eckstein from the Fraunhofer IOF was awarded the Heptagon - Sven Bühling - Research Promotion Prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, at the Alumni Day of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

His work focussed on the integration of diffractive structures in semiconductor lasers to improve beam quality.

Andreas Brückner from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics IOF in Jena was awarded the €5,000 Hugo Geiger Prize (1st place) at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's Research Festival in Berlin for his diploma thesis "High-precision position determination with artificial compound eye lenses".

In his diploma thesis, he succeeded in improving the imaging properties of image sensors, which are modelled on the compound eyes of an insect, with regard to applications in sensor technology.

The Thuringian Research Award 2007 in the Applied Research category goes to Dr. Thomas Peschel, Tino Benkenstein, Dr. Torsten Feigl, Christoph Damm, Dr. Sergiy Yulin, Sven Schröder and Dr. Uwe D. Zeitner for the development of components and systems for EUV lithography at 13.5 nm. The interdisciplinary research team has developed special coating processes for collector mirrors, measurement methods for their characterisation and high-precision joining and assembly processes. The result of the project is the prototype of a laboratory resist exposure device for EUV lithography at 13.5 nm. The centrepiece of the device is a diffraction-limited EUV Schwarzschild objective.

On 6 December 2007, the German Future Prize, the Federal President's prize for technology and innovation, was awarded to Dr. Andreas Bräuer, representing the development team from the Fraunhofer IOF, and to Dr Klaus Streubel and Dr. Stefan Illek from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors for the development of efficient LED light sources. The researchers have succeeded in significantly improving the light yield of the cost-effective and energy-saving light-emitting diodes.

For their project "Light from crystals - light-emitting diodes conquer our everyday lives", they received the 250,000 euro prize from German President Horst Köhler.

Dr. Jacques Duparré received the Faculty Prize of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the Friedrisch Schiller University Jena, sponsored by Rohde & Schwarz, for his dissertation "Microoptical Artificial Compound Eyes".

In his dissertation, he investigated two different principles of compound eyes in insects in order to finally adapt the principle of the compound eye to the possibilities of micro-optical technologies. In contrast to conventional opto-electronic systems, his technical principle of compound eyes can score with a particularly large field of vision and a small construction volume, which opens up new application possibilities.

Science Prize of the Stifterverband:

Dr. Andreas Bräuer, Dr. Peter Dannberg, Dr. Sergey Kudaev and Dr. Peter Schreiber, together with their project partners OSRAM OS, Siemens VDO and the Carl Zeiss Research Center, won the 50,000 euro Stifterverband Science Prize. The prize was awarded for their achievements in the joint project "Compact LED light sources" of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Handy projectors, bright rear-projection televisions and small, easy-to-read head-up displays - high-performance LEDs serve as the light source in all of these devices. They not only enable the small size, but also require little power, are durable and robust.

Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:

Dr. Thomas Peschel, Christoph Damm and Dr.-Ing. Volker Guyenot received the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize, which the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft awards for excellent application-oriented research achievements, for their work on "Minimally invasive heart valve replacement with a transvascular implantable heart valve prosthesis".

Open heart surgery is a major burden for any patient. Older or weakened people can often no longer be expected to undergo the procedure. A minimally invasive heart valve replacement could provide help.

Dr. Andreas Bräuer, Dr. Peter Dannberg, Jaques Duparré and Dr. Peter Schreiber were awarded the Thuringian Research Prize in the field of applied research for the development of a novel ultra-thin image acquisition system based on the model of the compound eye of insects.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann is elected to the international council of the OSA (Optical Society of America) for 3 years.

Ulrike Fuchs received the faculty prize for the best diploma thesis of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Friedrich Schiller University Jena for her diploma thesis "Theoretical and experimental investigations into the propagation of ultrashort laser pulses through focusing optics".

In her thesis, she investigated the guidance of light through optical systems using numerical simulations for the first time and was able to make a contribution to the future application of ultrashort pulse laser systems in the field of ophthalmology (eye medicine) with her results.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann has been awarded the Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation for his "groundbreaking work on the development of high-performance fiber lasers". The prize money of 1.55 million euros will be used to initiate new research.

In addition to continuous high-power laser output signals, Andreas Tünnermann also succeeded in generating ultrashort pulses of the highest beam quality and improving the optical properties of glass fibers for light generation. His achievements open up new areas of application for modern fiber lasers.

Dr. Uwe D. Zeitner was awarded the 2004 Prize of the Scientific Society for Laser Technology for his achievements in opening up new fields of research.

Prof. Andreas Tünnermann, together with Dr. Stefan Nolte and Dr. Holger Zellmer, was awarded the Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis 2004 on July 8, 2004 in Ditzingen for their work on the development of high-power fibre lasers, which form the basis for the development of new applications.

Third place in the Hugo Geiger Prize went to Michaela Harz for her diploma thesis "SPR sensor for parallel detection of several biochemical samples".

She developed a measurement setup at the Fraunhofer IOF that makes it possible to test biochemical samples (e.g. blood samples) for pathogens using the principle of surface plasmon resonance. In contrast to conventional procedures, in which the samples have to be sent in, this measurement setup would allow them to be analyzed directly by the attending physician, which would save a significant amount of time.

Students supervised by the Fraunhofer IOF took 4th place in the technology category of the national "Jugend forscht" competition with the development of a 3D scan measuring system.

They have developed a measuring system that, in contrast to conventional measuring systems, uses simpler technology and is therefore affordable for smaller companies.

The Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize was awarded at the annual conference of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to Dr. Ulrike Schulz, Dr. Peter Munzert and Dr. Norbert Kaiser from the Fraunhofer IOF for the "Scratch-resistant, anti-reflective coating AR-hard® for transparent plastics".

They developed a coating system (AR-hard®) that integrates several coatings and thus simultaneously anti-reflective surfaces and ensures scratch resistance.

The Thuringian Research Award 2003 in the Transfer category goes to Wolfgang Buß, Dr. Ramona Eberhardt, Dr. Marcus Frank, Matthias Mohaupt and Hein Uhlig from the Fraunhofer IOF for the development of "Microstructured dielectric filters for color sensor applications".

At the medical trade fair medica 2002, the project "Percutaneous implantation of heart valves using a special stent and a special catheter" by Fraunhofer IOF and the Department of Internal Medicine at Friedrich Schiller University Jena won the BMBF innovation competition for the promotion of medical technology.

They have succeeded in developing a procedure with which heart valves no longer have to be implanted through a stressful opening in the chest, but can instead be advanced through the leg artery to the ventricle using a special catheter.

At the annual conference of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the science prize of the Stiftverband goes to the team of the European joint project DONDODEM, in which 17 companies and institutes are involved, including Fraunhofer IOF with Dr. Andreas Bräuer, Dr. Peter Dannberg and Ulrich Streppel.

The joint project developed a solution for faster data transfer for use in technical devices such as cell phones, notebooks or organizers.

(DONDODEM: Development of new dielectric and optical materials and process-technologies for low cost electrical and/or optical packaging and testing of precompetitive demonstrators)

Thomas Zentgraf wins the Georg Simon Ohm Prize of the German Physical Society for the best diploma thesis in the field of technical physics for his work on the dispersion properties of waveguide arrays. His diploma thesis entitled "Measurement of photonic Bloch oscillations in thermally detuned waveguide arrays" was written at the Fraunhofer IOF.

His work presents experimental results that break new scientific ground and can form the basis for subsequent investigations in the field of quantum transport phenomena in optics.

The Thuringian Research Award 2001 in the Transfer category goes to Dr. Gunther Notni, Peter Kühmstedt and Dr. Jörg Gerber from the Fraunhofer IOF for the development and transfer of the "High-Speed 3D Digitizer for CAD/CAM in Dentistry and Industrial Digitization".