News
New violet laser developed at IKZ
Researchers at the Center for Laser Materials (ZLM) at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) have developed the most efficient direct violet-emitting solid-state laser:
Lasers with short-wave visible light in the blue or violet range have many practical applications. They are used in metalworking, for example, especially with metals such as copper, which strongly reflect infrared…
Space for the social question
Housing is many things at once: A basic need, a home for people, a means of investment, an asset—and a driver of generational (in)justice, says cultural and social geographer Ilse Helbrecht:
With the federal debt package being passed in the Bundestag, there is much public debate about its effects. “However, topics like refugee accommodation, homelessness, and the lack of social housing barely register,”…
New materials as highly sensitive X-ray detectors
Organic-inorganic hybrid materials are ideally suited and can be produced in a green way using ball milling:
New bismuth-based organic-inorganic hybrid materials show exceptional sensitivity and long-term stability as X-ray detectors, significantly more sensitive than commercial X-ray detectors. In addition, these materials…
Rootedness and diversity
Raúl Comesaña Macias heads the BBF Group, a family-run enterprise comprising medium-sized construction companies based in Adlershof:
Popular short videos on social media often link business success with strict morning routines. Benjamin Franklin, the man on the hundred-dollar bill, was famous for keeping meticulous records of his daily schedule and…
DLR pools expertise in space research
The new DLR Institute of Space Research is being formed from the internationally acclaimed Institutes of Optical Sensor Systems and Planetary Research:
Space is a key technology for the future, essential for exploring planets, Earth observation and security. Satellites and space probes equipped with highly specialised observation instruments are indispensable for all…
In conversation with Ana Anselmo and Silvia Zerbe
As diversity officers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, they shape diversity:
When 1,400 employees from 70 nations come together at a globally operating research institution like Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB), diversity may seem like a given. And yet, considerable…
Women, leadership & menopause
Hot flushes at the office:
“She’s probably on her period.” Though usually whispered behind closed doors, most people have probably heard this disparaging remark being uttered. It’s emblematic of how female biology is often treated, not only but…
Please mind the gap
Three DLR researchers highlight gender-specific knowledge gaps that prevent the surveying of women’s needs in cars, busses, and trains:
Globally, Germany ranks in the top ten percent for gender equality—but persistent gaps remain. The gender pay gap is the most well-known example. The fact that transport systems are still largely designed by and for…
Saskia Vormfelde will be the new Administrative Director at HZB
The successful science manager moves from Freiburg to Berlin on 1 September 2025:
Saskia Vormfelde, currently Administrative Director at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), will take over the administrative management at HZB from 1 September 2025. She succeeds Thomas…
Diversity wins
Berlin is recognised as an outstanding international technology hub. How to maintain this reputation, openness and diversity?:
Berlin is recognised as an outstanding international technology hub, particularly Adlershof. But that reputation is at risk if the political and social climate continues to move away from openness and diversity. After…
Insight into ultrafast spin processes with femtoslicing
Worldwide unique infrastructure for spintronics research at BESSY II:
An international team has succeeded at BESSY II for the first time to elucidate how ultrafast spin-polarised current pulses can be characterised by measuring the ultrafast demagnetisation in a magnetic layer system…
Diversity is a big strength for businesses – when it’s practiced in everyday culture
In conversation with Anja Dargel, General Representative at Berliner Sparkasse, and Bessie Fischer-Bohn, Head of HR at WISTA Management GmbH:
WISTA is again hosting the Diversity Conference Adlershof. Why is this an important topic? Bessie Fischer-Bohn: We offer a framework for sustainable economic growth at Adlershof Technology Park. For a long time, this…
»Diversity isn’t an added bonus – it’s our only chance«
A conversation with diversity expert Wolfgang Jockusch about hesitation and fears, inclusive leadership, and why companies can’t afford to ignore diversity:
Everyone’s talking about diversity, but what does it actually mean? Wolfgang Jockusch: First and foremost, diversity is a fact. People are and always have been diverse. Unfortunately, the topic often gets narrowed…
Ageing processes of lithium button cells made visible
For the first time, scientists were able to observe how the composition of lithium-ion batteries changes during charge cycles:
Lithium button cells with electrodes made of nickel-manganese-cobalt oxides (NMC) are very powerful. Unfortunately, their capacity decreases over time. Now, for the first time, a team has used a non-destructive method…
Nanoparticle shield makes luminescent molecules more durable for high-tech applications
Silica particles shield luminescent molecules from oxygen:
They are tiny but glow intensively: special light-emitting molecules used in environmental analysis, medical diagnostics, and energy research. However, their luminescence intensity can be significantly reduced by…
New instrument at BESSY II for investigating energy materials
OÆSE endstation in EMIL offers insights into dynamic electrochemical processes:
A new instrument is now available at BESSY II for investigating catalyst materials, battery electrodes and other energy devices under operating conditions: the Operando Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy on EMIL…
Ultrafast Plasmon-Enhanced Magnetic Bit Switching at the Nanoscale
MBI researchers demonstrated a way to control and manipulate nanoscale magnetic bits:
Researchers from Max Born Institute have demonstrated a successful way to control and manipulate nanoscale magnetic bits — the building blocks of digital data — using an ultrafast laser pulse and plasmonic gold…
Technology development for semiconductor material gallium oxide launched
At IKZ, a new application laboratory will be set up to produce epitaxial wafers for components in power electronics:
The EFRE project G.O.A.L. “Gallium Oxide Application Laboratory for Power Electronics”, which was launched in September 2024, completes the value chain created at the IKZ in the field of gallium oxide technology…
A cage structured material transforms into a performant catalyst for producing green hydrogen
The promising material class of clathrates was investigated at BESSY II:
Clathrates are characterised by a complex cage structure that provides space for guest ions too. Now, for the first time, a team has investigated the suitability of clathrates as catalysts for electrolytic hydrogen…
An elegant method for the detection of single spins using photovoltage
The approach of an HZB team could lead to a much more compact design of quantum sensors:
Diamonds with certain optically active defects can be used as highly sensitive sensors or qubits for quantum computers, where the quantum information is stored in the electron spin state of these colour centres.…