Current projects

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), aviation research programme LuFo Climate VI | period: 6/2024 - 8/2027
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Schäferling

The necessity for lightweight construction in the aircraft industries will lead to softer and more elastic structures in the future. Low-emission aircraft with high aspect ratio wings will fly much more energy-efficiently. Under changing loads, their bending and torsion will be influenced so that aerodynamic performance could suffer. Previous wind tunnel models, mostly made of stiff stainless steel, cannot reproduce this and thus, new fiber composite models have to be developed for aerodynamic tests in wind tunnels.

The Laboratory for Photonic Materials will develop and investigate optimized novel optical sensor materials (pressure and temperature-sensitive coatings), especially for cryogenic conditions and transient (time-resolved) measurements. For this purpose, fluorescent dyes will be combined with suitable polymer binders with corresponding elastic properties and integrated directly into the outer layer of carbon fiber models.

Cooperating partners:
Airbus Operations GmbH, Bremen (Projektkoordinator)
ETW European Transonic Windtunnel GmbH, Cologne
DLR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Aerodynamik und Strömungstechnik, Göttingen

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), ZIM programme | period: 1/2024 - 12/2025
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Schäferling

Development of ready-to-use sprayable paint mixtures by incorporating pressure- and temperature-sensitive dyes into Folymer solvent mixtures, improving the properties by mixing in additives, characterizing the paint mixture with regard to its spectroscopic properties, and calibrating the pressure and temperature sensitivity.

The aim is a combined measuring system with which the variables pressure and temperature can be optically recorded for use in wind tunnels and other flow test benches. Applications of the measuring system are in the field of research and development of aerodynamic apparatuses, such as aircraft or road and rail vehicles, as well as compressor and turbine technology and heat transfer.

Cooperating partners:
ILA R&D GmbH, Rudolf-Schulten-Straße 3, 52428 Jülich
TW European Transonic Windtunnel GmbH, Ernst-Mach-Straße, 51147 Köln (Cologne)

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), framework program "Exploring the Universe and Matter" (German: Erforschung von Universum und Materie – ErUM) 2023 - 2026 | period: 7/2023 - 6/2026
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ulrich Wittrock

A group of 14 research institutes is developing technologies for third-generation gravitational wave telescopes. like the European Einstein telescope We want to develop an adaptive mode matching system that is based on a deformable mirror in order to reduce the mode mismatch for coupling squeezed light into a gravitational wave interferometer. Conventional deformable mirrors which are driven by piezo-ceramic actuators suffer from hysteresis and creep. This would introduce additional noise into the interferometer. We therefore want to develop a novel type of deformable mirror that is driven by piezo-electric single-crystal actuators, e. g. LiNbO3. These actuators would be free of hysteresis but have a low stroke. A low stroke (less than 1 diopter in defocus mode) is acceptable for the envisioned mode-matching applications, while stability and precision are of paramount importance.

Partners:
RWTH Aachen University
Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology, Aachen
Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Berlin
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Universität Hamburg
Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg
Leibniz Universität, Hanover
HS Hannover - University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Laser Zentrum Hannover
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
University of Münster

DFG research grant within the international Weave Lead Agency Procedure | period: 2/2023 - 1/2026
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Bredol

The generation and storage of electrons on a high energetic level is a key step in many potential applications: e.g. reduction of CO₂ to useful chemicals, reduction of atmospheric N₂ to NH₃ or reduction of metal ions in novel battery concepts all call for high-energy electrons. In a joint effort with partners from the University of Technology Cracow, the Jagellonian University Cracow and the University of Science and Technology Cracow we will explore the usability of ZnTe magic-sized nanoclusters to serve as heterogeneous catalyst in this context.

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), programme FH-Kooperativ | period: 10/2022 - 9/2026
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ulrich Wittrock, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Evgeny Gurevich

The aim of the project is to develop adaptive mirrors for high-power lasers with a significant increase in mirror stroke, precision and displayable spatial frequencies. Instead of glass, substrates made of YAG, silicon carbide and diamond are to be used for the first time. Piezoceramic disks less than 0.5 mm thick are required for this. Conventional methods (lapping) do not achieve sufficient flatness with piezoceramics of this thickness. We therefore want to replace lapping with a feedback-controlled ("adaptive") USP laser ablation process in which the surface is measured and ablated deterministically.

AiF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrielle Forschung) | period: 10/2022 - 3/2025
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Bredol

In cooperation with the "Fuel Cell Center" in Duisburg this project will try to generate and investigate electrode layers for low temperature fuel cells with gradients in structure and composition, via electrophoretic deposition. The concept is based on recent work of Aleksandra Szydło ( doi: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.122532).