Research structure expansion of photonics

Fraunhofer IOF and partners present concept for innovative research infrastructure

With the "National Laboratory for Photonic Science and Technology" (NLP), the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light MPL have developed a concept for a new, innovative research infrastructure for the expansion of photonics in Germany and submitted it to the BMBF for evaluation as part of the "Procedure for Prioritizing New Research Infrastructures".

About the NLP

Goals of NLP

Objective of the NLP: pool resources and expertise, promote innovation

The "National Laboratory for Photonic Science and Technology" (NLP) aims to meet current challenges in business, industry and science and to further expand the potential of optics and photonics for important future markets through overarching cooperation at the Jena, Berlin and Erlangen sites.

A type of microchip with blue and golden circuit boards and blue coloured lines represent a hybrid photonic integrated circuit. — © Fraunhofer HHI
Architecture of a hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC) for a new era of high-speed communication.

To this end, it is the task of the NLP to bundle the primary technology fields of photonics and to bring together the expertise and resources of the partners involved. "The NLP is a determined movement towards a comprehensive research and development strategy for photonic technologies based on the combined resources of the partner institutes," continues Tünnermann.

The NLP will unite four areas of photonics:

Freeform optics & systems,
Fiber technologies & lasers,
Photonic integrated circuits and platforms, and
Nanooptics & multidimensional metamaterials.

Missions of the NLP

These core areas of expertise at NLP form the basis for in-house research and development and determine NLP's activities in key technological challenges in three missions:

Excellence in science by providing new dimensions and performance parameters in optical precision, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity,
Competitiveness of the industry through the development of new methods and functions in optical systems as well as possibilities for integration and scaling, and
Addressing societal challenges by realizing comprehensive and highly automated production capacities that enable the transfer of photonic technologies into broad industrial application for societal added value.

Together »away from costly and time-consuming developments«

Especially for future photonic technologies that are at the beginning of their innovation cycle, the lack of supply chains and markets for critical components and systems is a major obstacle for national and European research institutions and networks. By pooling expertise, the NLP is a clear step away from costly and time-consuming developments associated with dispersed research activities and fragmented production and supply chains.

Two circles in blue and yellow show, which subjet areas derive around the core topic "optical information". — © Fraunhofer IOF
Addressing key issues in science, industry and society: NLP combines systematic concepts and strategically relevant core technologies to take up a central position at the heart of the innovation ecosystem in Germany.

On the way to NLP

What are research infrastructures?

Large-scale research facilities and national research infrastructures enable new breakthroughs in science and research. They are drivers of innovation and new technologies and applications for industry and society. Research infrastructures' (RIS) are extensive and durable instruments, equipment and laboratories as well as knowledge-based resources and service facilities from all scientific fields.

Summer 2024: BMBF calls for applications for new research infrastructures

With the "Procedure for Prioritizing New Research Infrastructures", the BMBF launched a new initiative in summer 2024 to develop important future topics and promote groundbreaking science and innovative economic developments by establishing strategically relevant research facilities. Research institutions and universities planning to establish new, extensive research infrastructures of national importance or participate in international research infrastructures were invited to apply

A person, wearing white gloves, holding a square-shaped glass plate into the camera. The glass plate has lots of green, red and yellow shimmers. With a zoom-in the nanostructure of the colourful cross-section is shown. — © Fraunhofer IOF
Nanostructures for the highest demands: the spectrometer grid developed by Fraunhofer IOF for the Gaia mission enabled detailed images of our home galaxy and the high-precision measurement of around two billion stars.

Optics and photonics with disruptive potential

Optics and photonics technologies are the fundamental basis for scientific progress - from innovative technologies for investigating the smallest structures in biology, medicine and materials research to highly complex instruments for exploring the Milky Way and the origins of the universe. Photonics is also economically significant: with more than 190,000 employees, a turnover of over 50 billion euros and an export rate of 73 percent, the German optics and photonics industry is one of the world's leading players, supplies key markets worldwide and is highly relevant for technological sovereignty in times of significant global change.

At the same time, photonics is at a turning point in its development: following the establishment of classic optical processes, photonic technologies are increasingly enabling the combined control and use of the unique classical and quantum mechanical properties of light. The considerable technological and innovative potential of this development is comparable to the transition from electronics to microelectronics and its fundamental transformation into today's information society

In black and white a cut through a microstructured fibre is shown. It looks like a thick-walled circle with 5 thin-walled cirles symmetrically placed inside. — © MPL
Microstructured fibers as a key technology for the transmission of quantum states for the quantum information processing of the future.

Fall 2024: Fraunhofer IOF, HHI and MPL submit joint draft concept

In order to leverage the potential of these developments and translate them into added value for science, industry and society, the Fraunhofer IOF, the Fraunhofer HHI and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light MPL have developed a comprehensive concept for a new national research infrastructure and submitted it to Photonic Science and Technology" (NLP).

Current status of the application

Following the subsequent review of the applications submitted, the BMBF published an overview of the projects undergoing the evaluation process for the "Procedure for prioritizing new research infrastructures" in March 2025. The most promising projects are to be published on a shortlist this summer. They will then be transferred to implementation via regular prioritization procedures.

The partners of the NLP

Spokespersons of the Initiative

Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann
Head of Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, Head of Institute for Applied Physics IAP, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Website & CV: More information

Prof. Dr. Martin Schell
Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI
Website & CV: More information
Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar, Ph.D.
Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light MPL
Website & CV: More information

Institutes of the Initiative

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena develops innovative optical systems in future-oriented fields of research and industry. The aim of the work is the comprehensive control of the classical and quantum mechanical properties of light, from generation, guidance and manipulation to application.

The Fraunhofer IOF portfolio covers the entire process chain, from system design to the development and production of optical components and observation and lithography.

These competencies are complemented by nanostructured metasurfaces for system-critical optical elements in metrology and spectroscopic systems.

More about the Fraunhofer IOF

Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI

The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI in Berlin develops optical technologies for telecommunications, sensor technology and quantum communication.

Fraunhofer HHI conducts cutting-edge research and development with a focus on fiber optic networks, integrated photonics, terahertz spectroscopy and high-speed data transmission. The work includes the development of photonic components with high frequencies >100 GHz in InP for future optical networks, including laser sources, modulators and detectors as well as foundry services. In addition, hybrid photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on PolyBoard, SiNx and TFLN single-mode waveguides in combination with active elements made of InP, GaAs or GaN are developed. Another focus is coherent optical communication in the high-speed range for fiber optic networks.

More about the Fraunhofer HHI

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL)

The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen was founded in 2009 and has developed into a leading research center in the field of photonics.

The focus is on various types of microstructured fibers (dispersion-controlled, highly nonlinear fibers) and hollow-core fibers (gas-filled fibers for generating supercontinuum or liquid-filled fibers in biochemical studies) for collaborations with external partners in research and industry.

More about the MPL

Research infrastructure "National Laboratory for Photonic Science and Technology" (NLP)