Successful »Applied surface analysis« workshop (AOFA) with 150 participants at the Fraunhofer AWZ (Soest)

The 150 participants of the »Applied surface analysis« workshop (AOFA) experienced more than 60 scientific presentations. In the Fraunhofer Application Center for Inorganic Phosphors in Soest they exchanged ideas and information on new analytical-methodological developments and scientific-technological solutions to surface analysis problems. The accompanying industrial exhibition, in which 18 companies showed their new products, was also a complete success.

Teilnhame Veranstaltung AWZ zahlreich
© Fraunhofer AWZ Soest
Around 150 participants came to Soest for the 19th AOFA.

The »Applied surface analysis« workshop is held every two years and this year’s was the 19th: From 5 to 7 September 2016, analysts, materials scientists, solid state physicists and chemists and engineers attending the workshop were guests of the Fraunhofer Application Center on the Soest campus of Südwestfalen University of Applied Sciences for the first time.

»The three days of the AOFA provided an ideal opportunity to discuss current problems and new solution approaches in surface analysis with the leading experts. The excellent response emphasizes the potential that surface analysis methods offer to increase the reliability of materials and to optimize material properties. I am particularly pleased that so many companies presented their latest instruments and processes in the accompanying exhibition, because that is also proof of how relevant our topics are to practical applications«, said Prof. Dr. Stefan Schweizer, Head of the Fraunhofer AWZ, who was co-chair of the workshop committee with Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Müller of Südwestfalen University of Applied Sciences.

The special topic this year was »Surface meets Light«, to which end optical surface analysis methods, such as fluorescence, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, were discussed in two separate sessions. Overall, the workshop programme included 8 main talks, 28 short oral presentations and 26 poster presentations.

A highlight of the workshop was the presentation of the Rudolf Jaeckel Prize of the Deutsche Vakuumgesellschaft e.V. (DVG) to Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg. It was awarded in recognition of his work and achievements in the field of material research on defects in silicon and III-V semiconductors. The official prize-giving followed the prize-winner’s highly regarded talk on the topic of »Solar energy as the pillar of our future, sustainable energy supply«.