Press Releases

As the crow flies, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF is 1.7 kilometers away from the Stadtwerke Jena (engl.: public utilities Jena). Over this distance, the institute is using a test link to research the exchange of quantum keys via free beams, i. e. through the air. With the help of this technology, our communication should become highly secure in the future. During the "Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften" (engl.: Long Night of Sciences Jena) on November 25, guests can experience the test link live in action.

Researchers from Europe and Canada want to jointly create the basis for an intercontinental network for quantum communication. The HYPERSPACE project will focus on the investigation of the distribution of entangled photons via satellite. The research project has now started its three-year term.

Bioanalytics, mobile communication, weather research - this year, the winners of the "Applied Photonics Award" have once again demonstrated how broad the fields of application of photonics research are. The young researcher award of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF was presented to the five award winners of 2022 on October 5 as part of the "Photonics Days Jena".

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding a new regional research alliance in Thuringia with approximately twelve million euros: QUANTIFISENS. The aim is to develop an innovative sensor platform based on fiber-optic and quantum technology processes. The Free State of Thuringia will thus be further strengthened to become the leading center for special optical fiber technologies. With a kickoff on September 27 in Jena QUANTIFISENS has now entered its three-year research phase.

The Thuringian Ministry of Science has provided eleven million euros in funding for developing an infrastructure for quantum communication networks in the Free State Thuringia, Germany. This includes a fiber-based test route between Jena and Erfurt. Partners of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have now successfully exchanged quantum keys on the 75 km route for the first time.

30 years ago, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF was founded in Jena. The institute celebrated three decades of optics and photonics research with an anniversary celebration on July 7. Among the guests were representatives of state and federal politics as well as the Fraunhofer Executive Board. They also celebrated the topping-out ceremony for the institute's newest research building. In the future, especially quantum research will be advanced here.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has funded the "Quantum Photonics Labs" at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF with 8.5 million euros since 2019. The project aimed to develop instruments for controlling quantum systems and thus developing key components for the challenges of the second quantum revolution. Now the project results are available.

The World of Quantum is celebrating its premiere this year at the world's leading trade fair for photonics. The LASER trade fair is thus taking the rapidly growing market for quantum technologies into account. From April 26 to 29, several Fraunhofer institutes will be presenting their latest developments in this field and their respective areas of application in Hall A4, Booth 180.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding a consortium led by the Stuttgart-based quantum start-up Q.ANT with 45 million euros. The consortium partners are contributing a further eight million euros. The funding will be used to build a demonstration and test facility for photonic quantum computer chips and other quantum computing components. The consortium also includes the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP) at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF. Both are taking on development tasks worth 12.6 million euros in the project.

Quantum mechanically entangled light particles break down the boundaries of conventional optics and allow a glimpse into previously invisible wavelength ranges, thus bringing about new possibilities for imaging techniques, microscopy and spectroscopy. Unearthing these possibilities and creating technological solutions was the goal of the Fraunhofer lighthouse project QUILT.