Newsletter of the Fraunhofer IST

Whether in medical technology, electronics, or automotive manufacturing, the demands on functional coatings are constantly increasing. HIPIMS is a key technology for solving these challenges. The 15th International Conference on Fundamentals and Industrial Applications of HIPIMS, which took place in Braunschweig, focused on how this technology is developing and where it can be applied in the future.

With the utmost precision, the Fraunhofer IST has won this year’s Manufacturing Challenge at the Optical Interference Coatings Conference (OIC2025) in the USA. In this international competition, a spectroscopically precisely defined optical filter had to be manufactured as accurately as possible – a task that demands both creativity and the highest precision in design, production, and measurement technology.

High-performance, environmentally stable infrared optics are essential for modern applications in analytics, security and aerospace. At LASER World of Photonics 2025, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST was presenting newly developed coating solutions that offer maximum precision and long-term stability – even under extreme conditions.

Around the world, there is a lack of comprehensive medical care for people living in remote areas. Researchers at the Fraunhofer IST and ISE have devised a solution for this: a flexible, modular health platform. The team was presented with the Innovations for a Better Future award from the Fraunhofer-Zukunftsstiftung (Fraunhofer Future Foundation) for this development.

For a long time, hyperspectral imaging was considered complex and space-consuming. New technologies are, however, now paving the way for compact and efficient solutions. Interference filters that can be integrated directly into CMOS image sensors enable customized spectral analyses in the smallest of spaces. They thereby open up new application possibilities in environmental monitoring and industrial quality assurance. 

For the resource-conserving and, at the same time, economical production of plastic components, the utilization of intelligent, automated processes is crucial. At automatica, the Fraunhofer IST has been showcasing an innovative sensor system that records process data such as temperature and pressure in real time - directly in the tool. 

Whether in vacuum coating or water treatment, simulations are indispensable tools for R&D. They make it possible to reduce the number of physical tests. Until now, however, their utilization has generally been reserved for specialized experts. The Fraunhofer IST is going to fundamentally change this - with a new approach that takes simulation out of the expert niche and transfers it directly into industrial practice.

Through its expertise, the Fraunhofer IST has provided a significant contribution towards the successful revision and publication of the international standard ISO 10678. The standard regulates the procedure for determining the photocatalytic activity of surfaces by means of the degradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation.

At the beginning of March, the third funding period commenced for the Open Hybrid LabFactory (OHLF) research campus, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). A funding volume of ten million euros will cover three major research projects over a duration of five years. A central component of this initiative is the “CirProTech” project, the kick-off meeting for which took place in Wolfsburg.