Today, Dr. Matthias Haß, Minister of Finance, and Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Minister of Science, handed over the keys to the cfaed Cluster of Excellence facilities in the Barkhausen building to the Rector of TU Dresden, Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen.

The opening of the new TU Dresden building enables the cluster to bring together a large number of researchers in one location. The design of the office spaces and the highly sophisticated laboratories not only creates a single space for collaborative research, but the new building itself is located in the immediate vicinity of the Andreas-Pfitzmann building, the Hermann-Krone building and the adjacent institutes and departments that are of crucial importance to the cfaed. The Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Faculty of Computer Science and the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering as well as the School of Science have their main facilities right next door. Interdisciplinary research requires physical proximity and effective communication: this is precisely what the new building offers to cfaed.

Minister of Science, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange: “The cfaed makes a significant contribution to TU Dresden’s Excellence status. It clearly proves that top-notch, international research is conducted in Saxony. In the new building, cfaed will be a central contact point for interactions between scientists that transcend disciplinary boundaries. The goal is to purposefully combine the epistemologically-driven natural sciences with the engineering sciences geared towards innovation. Transdisciplinary and transnational cooperation in all areas is one of the keys to solving today’s most pressing challenges.”

Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, Rector of TU Dresden: “A new, dedicated building for our cfaed Cluster of Excellence is a state-of-the-art facility for cutting-edge research. The scientists at cfaed have been conducting research on pioneering electronics of the future for years. As a core component of TU Dresden’s Research Priority Area “Information Technology and Microelectronics”, the cfaed Cluster of Excellence makes a decisive contribution to the image of Silicon Saxony as an internationally visible, prime location for microelectronics. I am all the more thrilled that with this new facility the infrastructural conditions for international, excellent research have been created.”

Prof. Gerhard Fettweiss, cfaed spokesperson: “This new Barkhausen building inspires us!  It strengthens both our team spirit and our collaborative research. Finally, we have a true centre on campus. The short distances between the individual research groups and labs in this new facility enable the interdisciplinarity we have always longed for: electrical engineers engage with physicists, computer scientists talk to chemists, not only in the labs but also in the corridors. It is precisely this interdisciplinarity that is so captivating about cfaed as it facilitates cutting-edge, international electronics research. In particular, the labs for the Dresden Center for Nanoanalysis (DCN) that will centrally operate highly sensitive electron microscopes and other specialised analysis equipment right at the heart of the campus, now allow for DCN to be established as an internationally recognised user centre for nanoanalysis.”

As part of the construction project – managed by the state-owned enterprise Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement, Dresden branch office II – labs, offices, conference rooms and technical rooms were constructed on approximately 5,000m² of useable area. In total, 324 people are going to work and conduct research in the building.  The microscopy rooms in the new D wing are the technological heart of the building, and at the same time the most demanding part of the project in terms of construction. Installing and operating the high-precision microscopes demands extremely vibration-resistant rooms. The soil directly underneath was unsuitable. The structure of the building therefore had to be connected to a granite rock layer at a depth of 18 meters with a thick concrete support grid made up of 130 individual columns. In addition, nearly draught-free temperature control of the microscopy rooms to create a virtually constant room temperature as well as strict acoustic insulation requirements had to be ensured. The rooms were also equipped with elaborate Mu-metal magnetic field screens.

This is a state-of-the-art technical infrastructure that enables DCN to support the cfaed Cluster of Excellence in their ambitious endeavours.  DCN will provide the latest nanoanalytical methods for their research. These include in particular microscopic and spectroscopic methods such as the high-resolution (transmission) electronmicroscopy [HR-(S)TEM, HR-SEM], scanning probe microscopy with a resolution down to the atomic scale, the chemical analysis of the smallest length-scales using x-ray and electron spectroscopy (EDX, EELS), x-ray tomography as well as the creation of the tiniest structural elements utilising sharply focused ion beams (FIB) or using lithographic processes – insulated and shielded from disruptive environmental interferences.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Matthias Haß: “Research geared towards practical application is the driving force of an innovative economy. In hardly any other field is this as pronounced as in the semiconductor industry. cfaed’s research on the fifth generation of mobile communication “5G”, as well as on the energy efficient semiconductor elements as part of ‘Cool Silicon’, are prime examples. Outstanding research requires not only the brightest minds, but also fitting facilities and excellent technical equipment. Both of these requirements are met in the Barkhausen building, while observing the stringent legal requirements for the protection of historic buildings and monuments.”

The cfaed is positioned within the core fields of two, out of a total of five, Research Priority Areas of TU Dresden. They represent areas of the university that are the strongest in research and are characterised by a high publication volume and third-party funding. The cluster develops entirely innovative solutions for transmitting and processing information. The cluster’s vision is to design the electronics of the future and to launch revolutionary applications such as electronics that do not require boot time or are capable of THz imaging or that support complex bio sensors. To reach its goals, the cfaed pools the thirst for knowledge of the natural sciences with innovation of the engineering sciences.  Five research paths are inspired by novel materials. The sixth research path “orchestration” brings the discoveries of the other five paths to fruition through new systems and will revolutionise the classic design of electronics systems (memory, logics and sensors).

The cfaed is a Cluster of Excellence as part of the Excellence Initiative of the Federal and State Governments. As an interdisciplinary research centre for the future of electronics it belongs to TU Dresden. Yet, it additionally cooperates with TU Chemnitz and nine extramural research institutions in Saxony.  The cluster is financed by the DFG and is currently in the first funding period, running from 2012 to 2018. The approval of the cfaed application helped TU Dresden to secure the status of University of Excellence. A title that only few universities in Germany were awarded. The application for the next seven-year funding programme called “Excellence Strategy” has been submitted and the decision will be announced in September 2018.

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