High-Quality Crystals for Advanced Research

DESY and Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung sign cooperation agreement

Cooperation between DESY and the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) will literally become closer in the future. The Berlin Leibniz-Institute will establish a branch office on the Hamburg campus. Last week, the two research centers signed a cooperation agreement to this effect.

"We will bring a large number of application-oriented research projects closer to the research facilities at DESY. This will considerably stimulate our scientific cooperation and open up new areas of research and innovation," says IKZ Institute Director Thomas Schröder.

The use of tailor-made crystals is of great importance for research with synchrotron radiation sources. As well as being the object of research themselves, they also serve as reference object and carrier material in a variety of scientific fields. This cooperation agreement will advance research in different material systems, e.g., for high power electronics, information technology and alternative energy solutions. Experts at DESY and IKZ are already joining forces to develop innovative measurements which allow for studying materials of the future in real time and with high temporal resolution. Also, specialized silicon crystal grown at IKZ may be used as x-ray mirrors or monochromators in the new lightsource PETRA IV, which will place extremely high demands on the specifications of materials and technical components. In addition, the collaboration of IKZ and DESY with industrial partners plays an important role in the joint cooperation agreement; among other things, the foundation of a start-up company for active X-ray optics is envisioned.

"We are looking forward to cooperating closely with the crystal experts from IKZ in future," says Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors. "We expect considerable synergies, from which our experts in laser research and development and the DESY Nanolab will particularly benefit.

The Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung in Berlin-Adlershof is an international competence center for science, technology, service and transfer in the field of crystalline materials. The research and development spectrum ranges from basic and applied research to pre-industrial research tasks. The IKZ develops innovations in crystalline materials through its expertize in plant engineering, numerical simulation and crystal growth to achieve crystalline materials of the highest quality with tailored properties. The unique selling point of the institute is the research on volume crystals. This work is accompanied by research and development on nanostructures and thin films as well as strong theoretical and experimental research into materials.
 

Contact

Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ)
Max-Born-Straße 2, 12489 Berlin
Stefanie Grüber
Public Relations
Phone: +49 30 6392 3263
Email: stefanie.grueber(at)ikz-berlin.de
www.ikz-berlin.de

Press release IKZ, 1 September 2020