Developing multifunctional coatings 50 times faster

Sebastian Siol tests 45 different material samples in one : Empa The "Empa Zukunftsfonds" seeks private donors for outstanding research projects that are not (yet) supported elsewhere. For example a project from Empa's Surface Science and Coating Technologies laboratory: With the support of the Helmut Fischer and Anni Walther Foundation the researchers aim to accelerate the development of multifunctional thin films, which could be applied in electronic devices or high-performance optics. Experiments in ultra-high vacuum deposition systems are often time-consuming and expensive. But what if, instead of 50 experiments, you only had to perform one - and yet still got 50 different material samples? And what if you could automate the characterization of these samples and have the results immediately available for evaluation in a database? The Coating Technologies Group around Sebastian Siol is pondering these very questions. The answer is obvious: It would be possible to develop novel thin film materials and coatings much faster. For a few years now, Siol's group has been building the infrastructure to make this dream a reality. In a project on, this technology is now being further expanded and used for the development of multifunctional ceramic thin films.