Fraunhofer IOF pushes the boundaries of Large-Area Nanostructuring

As our SpectroNet network continues to connect leading innovators in optical technologies, photonics, machine vision, and applied research, we are pleased to highlight exciting news from our member Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena.

Fraunhofer IOF, together with the Institute of Applied Physics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Ilmenau University of Technology, is contributing to a highly ambitious research project aimed at developing a new 3D nanolithography and nanomeasuring machine. The future system is designed to structure and measure photonic components with dimensions of up to 1 × 1 × 0.2 meters — approximately three times larger than what is currently possible with conventional high-precision methods.

The project, funded by the German Research Foundation with around four million euros, addresses a key challenge in modern photonics: producing large-area nanostructures with extremely high precision. Today, high-precision nanostructuring is typically limited to components of around 30 centimeters. The planned machine aims to expand this capability to surfaces of up to one square meter, while achieving positioning accuracy of up to 20 picometers — a scale far smaller than the diameter of an atom.

This technological leap could open new possibilities for advanced scientific applications, particularly in fusion research, gravitational wave detection, high-performance optics, and next-generation photonic components. Large nanostructured mirrors and optical surfaces with exceptional precision are expected to play an important role in future research infrastructures.

Fraunhofer IOF brings its extensive expertise in 3D nanolithography, nanostructured optical components, metasurfaces, and mission-critical photonic systems to the project. The institute has already demonstrated remarkable achievements in this field, including a record 30-centimeter nanostructured metasurface and contributions to international space missions such as Sentinel 4, Sentinel 5, and CO2M.

The new machine is expected to become operational at Fraunhofer IOF around 2032. In the first three-year project phase, the partners will develop the overall concept, build key subsystems, and demonstrate the required performance parameters.

For the SpectroNet community, this project is a strong example of how applied optics, precision engineering, nanotechnology, and photonics research continue to drive innovation from Thuringia to international science and industry. We warmly congratulate Fraunhofer IOF and its partners on this forward-looking initiative and look forward to following the development of this unique high-precision technology.