TechBlog of Fraunhofer ISIT

Batteries have an immense importance for our daily life and the number of possible and more and more specific applications is constantly growing. Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are the most advanced battery systems today. They are used for a very wide range of applications, from cell phones to electric cars.

Sounds a little like something from days gone by, but in the age of artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and quantum computers, it is still the first step when it comes to realizing an initial idea, writing a piece of paper and something when building or implementing an application-oriented demonstrator. This sketch is the basis for the further design process. Based on this idea, a 3D model is used to give the whole thing precise contours, fix the dimensions, introduce further innovative aspects and, last but not least, to make the basic structure visualizable and imaginable for the development team. Already at this stage, errors can be detected early on and naturally avoided.

While chlorine and ultraviolet light are the standard means of disinfecting water, ozone is equally effective in killing germs. To date, ozone has only been used as an oxidation agent for treating water in large plants. Now, however, a project consortium from Schleswig-Holstein is developing a miniaturized ozone generator for use in smaller applications such as water dispensers or small domestic appliances. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT has provided the sensor chip and electrode substrates for the electrolysis cell.

Since 1994 Fraunhofer ISIT is one of the leading institutes in Europe for applied research in MEMS development and processing. Products like MEMS mirrors, loudspeakers, bio sensors and microfluidics have been manufactured in the ISIT cleanroom fab (2500 m², 8” / 200 mm silicon and crystalline quartz / amorphous glass wafers). Moreover, transistors and batteries for power electronics applications are being developed in our own facilities. Both MEMs and power electronics have been successfully transferred into prototypes and products.

With the goal of creating technological conditions for increasing the efficiency of power transistors for power conversion, e-mobility and communication applications, the innovative material AlScN was successfully validated for its use in NMOS-transistors.

Excellent accuracy laser projection for high quality optical sensing and measurement tasks . Fraunhofer ISIT has developed 1D and 2D quasistatic scanning mirrors with piezoelectric AlN and AlScN based actuation.

Due to cost pressure and for reasons of climate technology, packaging technology is faced with the task of making manufacturing processes more cost-effective as well as more energy-saving and thus more climate-friendly. One answer to this challenge is the development and use of low-temperature solders, which can already be used in many areas such as the production of white goods (household appliances), consumer electronics, lighting with LED technology and many other applications. Due to the low ambient and operating temperatures of these electronic assemblies and systems, a low melting point solder alloy is suitable for manufacturing.

Pores in solder joints are always an issue when it comes to electrical load capacity, heat dissipation and reliability of electronic assemblies. To demonstrate the formation of pores during a soldering process, we offer the possibility to observe a reflow soldering process in an X-ray facility directly on site. During this process, the melting process and the formation of pores in the solder can be monitored live. Our technology makes it possible to take X-ray videos and capture images at any point of the analysis. Find out now in our Techblog how exactly the innovative soldering process is carried out and finally evaluated.

Within the Fraunhofer lighthouse project “Toward Zero Power Electronics-ZePowEl”, Fraunhofer ISIT developed a novel MEMS magnetomechanical energy harvester.

In the CoVMoTe project, several Fraunhofer institutes (IME-MB, CSB, IME-TMP, IBMT, ENAS, ISIT, EMFT) and their partners (e.g. Campton Diagnostics GmbH) are working together on the implementation of a mass producible rapid PCR assay that can be used in a small mobile unit.