News Archive

Battery electric buses and self-driving trams
The future has already arrived at Siemens Mobility in Adlershof:
When the first self-driving tram whooshes towards us, it looks like an ordinary tram riddled with cameras, sensors, radars and laser scanners. It is the most recent feat of the development department at Siemens…

All You Need Is Glass
Scientists from BAM Adlershof are researching unbreakable glass:
Ralf Müller starts waxing lyrical when he talks about glass. “It’s such a fascinating material. Much lighter and even more robust than steel,” says Müller, who is head of the Department 5.6 Glass at the BAM Federal…

Sprinting towards the tandem cell
How the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT brings together business and research:
Researchers at the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT conduct application-based research on promising solar cells. The development of their refined ideas depends on bringing working together with the industry. A…

BIM creates inventions
Searching for skilled personnel, the company vinarIT is focusing on older staff:
vinarIT GmbH integrates IT systems for planning, implementing, and operating large infrastructure projects. The company needs staff who are skilled in construction technology as well as IT. A rare combination. The…

Avoiding bridge failures through prevention
The start-up Sensical seeks to use fibre-optical measurement technology to examine buildings and develop maintenance plans:
Forty-three people died when a bridge collapsed in Geneva in mid-August. A ruptured cable was the likely cause. In Germany, too, the bad condition of many bridges regularly makes the headlines. In Berlin, many busy…

ERC Synergy grant with HZB participation
Novel X-ray microscope to produce microstructural images in situ and in vivo:
An interdisciplinary team of scientists will develop a new imaging method to investigate osteoporosis and other bone diseases in living subjects. Prof. Silke Christiansen, a scientist at HZB and physics professor at…

Blue phosphorus - mapped and measured for the first time
HZB team was able to examine samples of blue phosphorus at BESSY II for the first time:
Until recently, the existence of "blue" phosphorus was pure theory: Now an HZB team was able to examine samples of blue phosphorus at BESSY II for the first time and confirm via mapping of their electronic band…

Nanodiamonds as photocatalysts
Research team is testing materials for the production of solar fuels at HZB:
Diamond nanomaterials are considered hot candidates for low-cost photocatalysts. They can be activated by light and can then accelerate certain reactions between water and CO2 and produce carbon-neutral "solar fuels".…

Future data storage technology: fast access, high storage density
MBI researchers image extremely small magnetic nanostructures with invisibility cloak:
In novel concepts of magnetic data storage, it is intended to send small magnetic bits back and forth in a chip structure, store them densely packed and read them out later. The magnetic stray field generates problems…

Graforce produces environmentally friendly fuel from wastewater
Plasmalysis converts pollutants into energy and reduces emissions by up to 60 %:
The Berlin-based tech company Graforce has introduced a unique technology: Plasmalysis saves resources in its highly efficient generation of hydrogen from industrial waste water. Mixing in biogas produces…

Activating surfaces with flexible and compact plasma sources
At SEMICON Europa FBH will present a compact atmospheric plasma source in operation and further developments based on III-V electronics:
At the SEMICON Europa trade fair in Munich, the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) will showcase new developments at the joint stand of »Research Fab Microelectronics« in hall A4, stand 504 from 13 to 16 November 2018.…

Photonik Tage Berlin Brandenburg to take place in Adlershof
Most important photonics industry event in the federal capital region / 500 guests expected on 17 and 18 October 2018:
For the second time, the Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park will host the Photonik Tage Berlin Brandenburg (Photonics Days Berlin Brandenburg) on 17 and 18 October 2018. More than 500 expected visitors…

Family-friendly employer: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung
Adlershof-based research institute receives the certificate for the audit berufundfamilie (work and family audit) again:
On September 30, 2018, the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) was awarded the berufundfamilie audit certificate for further three years. The certificate is awarded to the institute for its commitment in the…
MASCOT lands safely on asteroid Ryugu
The near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, located approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth, has a new inhabitant:
On 3 October 2018, the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on the asteroid and began to work. The lander successfully separated from the Japanese Hayabusa2 space probe at 03:58 CEST. The 16 hours in which…

HZB researchers are used to boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells
In the journal Materials Horizons, researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and international colleagues describe how this limit can be abolished:
The efficiency of a solar cell is one of its most important parameters. It indicates what percentage of the solar energy radiated into the cell is converted into electrical energy. The theoretical limit for silicon…

24. International Workshop on Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Super-resolution Microscopy in the Life Sciences in Adlershof
The annual workshop held by PicoQuant enables scientists to report on and share recent developments in single molecule detection:
The 24. international workshop on “single molecule spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy in the life sciences” was held by PicoQuant from September 12 – 14, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Researchers from various…

HZB Young Investigator Group “Nano-SIPPE” discovers:
Machine learning helps improving photonic applications:
Photonic nanostructures can be used for many applications, not just in solar cells, but also in optical sensors for cancer markers or other biomolecules, for example. A team at HZB using computer simulations and…

Patented nanostructure for solar cells
Rough optics, smooth surface:
Thin-film solar cells made of crystalline silicon are inexpensive and achieve efficiencies of a good 14 percent. However, they could do even better if their shiny surfaces reflected less light. A team led by Prof.…

Greenhouse emissions from Siberian rivers peak as permafrost thaws
Study published by researchers from Humboldt-Universität in collaboration with an international team:
Permafrost soils store large quantities of frozen carbon and play an important role in regulating Earth’s climate In a study published in Nature Geoscience, researchers from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in…

Adlershof Journal September/October 2018
Better growth? Sometimes strong but always smart:
Tailor-made crystals: materials for the high-tech industry // Useful blue-green algae: suppliers for cancer therapy // A hero’s quest: virtual reality worlds are interactive adventure stories // …