Progress at LENA
In order to reinforce the research focus area of nanometrology, the German state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) is constructing a new building for LENA. Following the groundbreaking in April, the topping-out ceremony was held on 22 August 2016. At present, LENA unites institutes from the departments of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, Physics (head department), Life Sciences and Mechanical Engineering at the Technische Universität Braunschweig with the divisions of Electricity, Chemical Physics and Explosion Protection at PTB.
Several groups of junior researchers are also part of LENA. On 1 April 2016, Dr. Stefanie Kroker, a junior professor, was jointly appointed by PTB and TU Braunschweig to lead the “Metrology for Functional Nanosystems” junior research group. At LENA, this group operates at the interface between PTB and TU Braunschweig, and is designed to support the joint research activities of both institutions in nanometrology. The group’s goal is to develop and verify zwinovel nano-optic systems for metrological/sensory applications, as well as to investigate metrologically relevant light/material interaction processes in optical nanostructures.