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News from departments 7.1 and 7.2

The optical constants fully describe how a material transmits, reflects, absorbs, refracts or scatters light. Their precise knowledge is therefore of central importance for optical technology. As part of the European joint projects "Advanced Traceable Metrology for Optical Constants" (ATMOC) and "14 Angstrom CMOS IC technology" (14ACMOS), PTB has started to build up a database of optical constants...

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Reconstructing the spatial electron density of atomic systems not only provides new insights into quantum mechanics, but also advances in areas such as material science and functional surfaces. In the photoelectric effect, photoelectrons are emitted through interaction with light...

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In June 2023, a three-year project on the research and development of measurement methods for nanomedicine was started within the European funding program "Partnership on Metrology". The MetrINo (Metrology for innovative Nanotherapeutics) project involves a total of 20 partners from ten European countries, including both research and metrology institutes as well as pharmaceutical companies.

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Golden spherical particles in an antique glass vial resting on a table, antique pharmacy equipment in the background

Innovative materials based on nanoscale and submicrometre particles are playing an increasingly important role in the development of new products across many fields. Applications range from battery electrodes to nanomedicine to quantum dots, which recently gained attention through the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 which was awarded for their discovery and synthesis...

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Metrology, fundamental research and applications in the spectral range of the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV): For 40 years, PTB has been conducting research and measurements using synchrotron radiation as part of collaborations and services for science and industry. For the seventh time, PTB organised a workshop from 13 to 15 November 2023 under the umbrella of the...

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A new beamline for radiometry in the vacuum ultraviolet spectral range (VUVR) was successfully commissioned at the Metrology Light Source (MLS). By quickly redirecting the radiation to three different measuring stations, the availability for different measuring tasks is significantly increased...

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We introduced a novel approach involving low-rank matrix reconstruction, applied to the sub-diffraction technique of atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR), thereby enabling highly efficient hyperspectral infrared nanoimaging. Its practical utility was demonstrated on Leishmania parasites as a realistic target of biological importance.

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The current generation of industrial semiconductor manufacturing uses extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation at a wavelength of 13.5 nm. For more than 25 years, PTB has been offering high-precision measurements of the reflection properties of optical elements at this wavelength, and has thus been significantly involved in the technology development...

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On May 23, 2023 this year's QUNOM (Quantification of Uncertainties in Nano Optical Metrology) workshop welcomed participants from different European countries. It was hosted by the XUV group at the University of Twente and co-organized by Dr. Sebastian Heidenreich (PTB Working Group 8.43 Modelling and Simulation) and Dr. Victor Soltwisch (Working Group 7.14 EUV Nanometrology).

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The semiconductor industry needs metrology systems to characterize the dimensions of transistor structures in the nanometer range in a fast, non-destructive, and metrologically reliable manner. A major challenge here is the limitation of the resolution of the measurement systems by the wavelength of the radiation used. Therefore, the use of short-wavelength extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is...

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