PDI receives EFRE funding for new ATLAS Lab
/ Announcements
We’re pleased to announce that PDI has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE) to establish a new Application Lab for Thermal Laser Epitaxy (ATLAS). This funding is an important milestone on the way towards establishing PDI as an international competence center for Thermal Laser Epitaxy (TLE).
TLE is a next-generation materials growth technique that enables synthesis at temperatures exceeding 2000 °C, far beyond the limits of conventional epitaxy. This capability opens up new opportunities for creating high-quality thin films and expanding the range of materials that can be grown epitaxially, laying the foundation for next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and quantum devices.
Through ATLAS, PDI will establish and operate state-of-the-art TLE systems to make this technology accessible to a broader user base in both research and industry. The lab will generate practical insights into system operation and growth parameters, support fundamental research on high-melting-point materials such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), aluminum nitride (AlN), diamond, and complex oxides, and contribute to the continued advancement of this emerging epitaxy method.
Building on PDI’s longstanding expertise in Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), ATLAS complements PDI’s existing EFRE-funded Application Labs:
- BALET, focused on Electron Tomography, and
- ZALKAL, dedicated to Time-Resolved Cathodoluminescence Spectroscopy.
Together, these facilities strengthen PDI’s mandate to provide open, application-oriented platforms for advanced materials research and to foster collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
The ATLAS project began on July 1, 2025, and will run for three years under project number EFRE 1.6/18. The funding is administered through the Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Gesundheit und Pflege.