Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST

Prof. Dr. Günter Bräuer received the K-T Rie Award for his achievements in the field of applied plasma research at this year's Asian-European International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (AEPSE), which took place in Jeju, Korea, from 11 to 15 September 2017. The award honors the scientific life of the promoted physicist.

The prototype kilogram – to which all scales are calibrated to – is losing weight. International efforts are striving to redefine the base unit for measuring mass and, in future, redefine the kilogram on natural constants. For this purpose, the Avogadro experiment determines the number of atoms in almost perfect silicon spheres. Fraunhofer researchers have recently succeeded in homogeneously coating the spherical surfaces.

Cost-effective plastics are used for many medical disposable products. Atmospheric pressure plasma processes such as those used and developed at the Fraunhofer IST offer a variety of possibilities for changing the physical or chemical characteristics of surfaces so that they can be used for biomedical applications.