The cluster of excellence PhoenixD (Photonics, Optics and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines) is expected to turn optics manufacturing on its head by channeling optical design, optical simulation and cutting-edge production methods into a single integrated platform. The objective is to create optical precision devices in a quick and cost-effective process using additive manufacturing techniques. As an interdisciplinary initiative encompassing mechanical and electrical engineering, physics, computer science and chemistry, PhoenixD aims to combine production technology and first-class optics with simulation and material expertise. "The decision is a milestone for photonics research in Hannover," remarks Dietmar Kracht, a scientific technical director at the LZH. His fellow director Dr. Stefan Kaierle couldn't agree more: "The funding will enable us to significantly advance photonics research and introduce innovations into the economy and everyday life more quickly."

PhoenixD will focus on topics such as monitoring agricultural crops with lasers, simplifying and advancing light-based diagnostics, developing adaptive eyeglass lenses and enhancing road safety through the use of optical units. The QuantumFrontiers cluster (Light and Matter at the Quantum Frontier: Foundations of and Applications in Metrology), meanwhile, is an interdisciplinary network of ambitious physicists, engineers and scientists eager to push the limits of what is measurable - and ultimately gain complete control over quantum states of light and matter. If they are successful, they will lay the foundations for the metrology of tomorrow, bringing about fantastic advances in terms of navigation, time synchronization, cryptography, biological systems and materials science. What's more, the heightened level of precision gained from this would benefit gravitational wave research, too, and pave the way for detecting the Big Bang. QuantumFrontiers' research builds upon the work conducted by QUEST, LUH's former excellence cluster.

Laser Zentrum Hannover e. V. (30419 Hannover, Germany)
Website: www.lzh.de/en