10-01 :: January 2010
nanotimes
7
Research
Micro-optical elements bundle and
homogenize the light. © Fraunhofer IOF
by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Engi- ting applications. At nano tech 2010 in Tokyo, ISC
neering and Automation IPA ensures that surfaces presents an array of optical materials, ranging from
emit sound if they become warmer or cool off. The glasses to ORMOCER
®
s and their nanotechnology,
trick: carbon nano-tubes embedded in the varnish to plastics. IOF contributes high-precision optical
that conduct electricity: If a surface is coated with design and microtechnology, the Fraunhofer Institute
this varnish, then it can be heated up by application for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP has
of an electric current. This change in temperature is physical coating technologies.
audible because the warming up surface makes the
air around it vibrate. The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technolo-
gies and Systems IKTS in Dresden will additionally
“And this is only one of a myriad of conceivable display manufacturing processes, such as pressing
innovative applications. The surface coating is like- glass optics or coating with the use of nanolithogra-
wise capable of heating large surfaces and surfaces of phy. Lastly, IPA will exhibit its prowess with carbon
complex shape, and in the future, conceivably it can nano-tubes.
be used as a multifunctional coating for heating, or as
a resistance sensor, or as a coating for color displays,”
says Ivica Kolaric, head of department at IPA.

http://www.iof.fraunhofer.de
“The interdisciplinary nature of Fraunhofer is its

http://www.isc.fraunhofer.de/
strength,” concludes Popall. The 59 institutes that
collaborate within the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft cover

http://www.ipa.fraunhofer.de/
a truly broad spectrum – from materials to techno-
logy and design, through to processes and the resul-