Materials science data represent a goldmine of the 21st century when comprehensively characterized and made available. Typical challenges in materials science include heterogeneity of data, lack of a data sharing culture and lack of an appropriate associated infrastructure, non-standard data formats, data confidentiality, and lack of data management.

A FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data infrastructure is the necessary prerequisite to easily share data and explore it with data analytics and artificial intelligence methods [Ref. Nature Paper]. The goal is to build such a data infrastructure at the IKZ that facilitates the application of digital technologies to create new added value and extend existing knowledge. The goal is to integrate all of the institute's research data into a FAIR infrastructure in 10 years and to automate data ingestion as much as possible.

The main contribution to the realization of our goals is the collaboration in the FAIRmat project, in which such a FAIR data infrastructure for condensed matter physics and chemical physics of solids is being built. In order to implement the goals in the institute, a digitalization workgroup was formed, in which all sections of the institute are represented. Topics of this workgroup are development of a digitalization strategy, data governance, research data management, training and education of staff.

Please contact Sebastian Brückner for more information.

The IKZ FZ-Si (Floating-Zone-Silicon) group in the section Volume Crystals / Semiconductors supports academic and industrial research by its expertise on isotope pure crystals like silicon-28.

This expertise is also used inhouse by our IKZ section Nanostructures & Layers / Semiconductor Nanostructures which works on ²⁸Si-based heterostructure approaches for the design of scalable spin qubits as the core of quantum computers.

IKZ is a strong partner in the Leibniz Science Campus ´Growth and Fundamentals of Oxides` (GraFOx), selected for funding its second phase by  the Leibniz Association. The Science Campus, managed at IKZ essentially by the section Materials Science / Experimental Characterization, is devoted to study in particular the basic research of sesquioxides for future oxide electronic applications.

It involves contributions from IKZ sections Materials Science / Experimental Characterization, Volume Crystals / Oxide & Fluorides and Nanostructures & Layers / Thin Oxide Films.

The Center for Laser Materials at IKZ belongs to the section Application Science / Crystals for Photonics and works closely with the IKZ section Volume Crystals / Oxides & Fluorides and their junior research group "Fluoride Crystals for Photonics Applications".

It is established to act as one-stop shop to support academic and industrial partners on research & development of laser materials that open up new wavelength ranges, enable more efficient laser operation or higher output power.

Download Flyer: „Center for Laser Materials“

The ERDF Application Lab ´Materials for Oxide Electronics` is a part of the section Nanostructures & Layers / Thin Oxide Films. Its mission is to promote innovative applications in the area of future oxide electronics by tailoring the properties of functional oxide thin films. Examples are given by biomedical ferroelectric sensors for Internet of Things, active x-ray optics for time resolved studies or next generation Ga₂O₃ power electronics. The IKZ section Materials Science / Experimental Characterization is strongly involved to promote these activities.

Modern society is based on a high number of electrical systems in communication, industrial production, e-mobility etc. A central challenge is here the efficient and climate friendly conversion of electrical energy so that EU Green Deal targets can be reached. Silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) reach higher breakdown field strengthes than silicon so that compact device architectures can be realized by more sustainable process technologies. β-Ga₂O₃ crystals reach an even twice as high breakdown field strength with lower on-resistance values so that this material system is considered as a promising candidate for next generation power electronics. 

IKZ is today internationally leading in the area of Czochralski-volume crystal growth of β-Ga₂O₃ and the epitaxy of functional β-Ga₂O₃-layers by metal organic vapor phase deposition (MOVPE). These activities are intensively supported by our Materials Science / Experimental Chracterization to study fundamental physics phenomena and Application Science / Crystals for Electronics for substrate preparation.

• Offer: Gallium oxide substrates and epi-layers
• Download Flyer: „Gallium Oxide – The Next High Performance Material for High Power Devices“