Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines

Around 120 scientists of the Cluster of Excellence "PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation across Disciplines" are working on the next evolutionary step – novel integrated optics. With the advanced technology, the researchers plan to take mechanical engineering and production processes to a new level and build a production platform. The optics researchers are investigating how they can realise complex optical systems in a short development time and for a fraction of today's price. To achieve this aim, Leibniz University Hannover's scientists join their forces with project partners from Technical University Braunschweig and Laser Zentrum Hannover e. V. Two trends trigger the desired paradigm shift in optics production: more powerful data processing and improved (additive) manufacturing methods. These trends enable scientists to realise a digitally and physically networked production platform for optical components and systems. It requires measurement and production technology and a great deal of computing power, and the development of algorithms and new types of optical composite materials consisting of glass and plastic, among other things. With the production platform to be set up in the OPTICUM, the scientists can check the optics' quality during ongoing production. Still, production defects can also be corrected in real-time. The research goals include an increase in precision and a reduction in resource and energy consumption than the current state of the art. Many fundamental questions still need to be answered over the next ten years to achieve these goals. PhoenixD is a Cluster of Excellence funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under Germany's Excellence Strategy. The Cluster engages in fostering the knowledge about optical technologies at different educational levels with it's PhoenixD Research School.