Prof. Bernd Michel from Chemnitz, Dr. Dietmar Vogel from Berlin and Dr. Jürgen Keller from Berlin have received the third Joesph-von-Fraunhofer Prize 2005. The award honors their research into product reliability in micro and nano technology through nano deformation analysis, carried out at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM.

Miniaturizing components poses new problems for design engineers, particularly in the areas of sensory technology, microelectronics and microsystem technology. The reliability of such systems depends on understanding and describing the mechanical-thermal processes involved in these broad areas. However, conventional measuring systems have reached their limits in this.

Dr. Dietmar Vogel, Dr. Jürgen Keller and Prof. Bernd Michel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM have overcome these limits with a new methodological approach. The nanoDAC/fibDAC process allows studies to measure residual stress, as well as material deformation and damage, information that could not be collected previously. Numerous companies and research centers are already utilizing the patented process.