Visitors will have the opportunity to explore laboratories that are normally not open to the public, talk directly with researchers, and learn more about training opportunities and careers at the institute. The Open Day will be officially opened at 1:00 p.m. by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Kahmen, Scientific and Technical Director of IHP. Selected tours and information stands will also be available in Polish.
The laboratories are at the heart of the programme. In the Photonics Laboratory, IHP researchers develop chips that transmit data using light. These chips are among the fastest of their kind worldwide and are important for applications such as data centres and the internet of the future. In the Molecular Beam Epitaxy Laboratory, visitors will be introduced to a system that operates in an almost complete vacuum. Inside, material layers only a few atoms thick are grown.
The Pick-and-Place Laboratory shows what happens to a chip after fabrication in the dust-free cleanroom. Chips are produced on wafers, thin silicon discs containing many individual chips. In this laboratory, the wafers are cut and the individual chips are picked up and prepared for further use. This is how universities and companies receive chips based on their own designs manufactured at IHP. Under a microscope, visitors can also see just how fine the structures on a chip really are.
Two further laboratories will be presented in the lecture room. A virtual 360-degree tour takes visitors through the Integration Laboratory, where chips are connected to printed circuit boards and packages using wires thinner than a human hair. The Nanolab will provide an overview of its research and the equipment used there, followed by a short virtual tour. Additional laboratories will also open their doors with their own guided tours.
Cleanroom tours will be offered in three different formats: introductory tours at 1:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; tours for specialist audiences at 1:45 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.; and a children’s tour at 3:00 p.m. All tours start at the “Haltestelle” meeting point in the foyer, where the times and individual tour stops will be displayed. No advance registration is required. Places are limited depending on the tour and will be allocated on site.
For children, the Children’s University “Colder than the North Pole” will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Through experiments with liquid nitrogen, participants will discover just how cold it can get. From 3:00 p.m. to 3:40 p.m., the “Behind-the-Chip” discussion format will feature IHP employees talking about their work. At 3:40 p.m., the Science Slam begins with a short and entertaining talk from everyday research life: IHP scientist Keerthi Dorai will explain “How Driving School Prepared Me for My Chip Research”.
At the stands dedicated to vocational training and IHP as an employer, the institute will present its professions and different entry routes. Visitors can also take advantage of an application check at the Human Resources stand. Please bring your application documents with you.
“Behind every chip are people with very different backgrounds and career paths: microtechnologists, mechatronics technicians and researchers from many countries. At our Open Day, they will provide insights into their work and explain how they found their way to IHP. We especially want to show young people from the region the exciting training and career opportunities available right on their doorstep and encourage them to discover their own future here.”
Anna Herfurth, Head of Human Resources, IHP
At information stands, IHP’s departments will present their research activities. Universities from Germany, Poland and Türkiye with which IHP operates joint laboratories will also take part, along with partners from Frankfurt (Oder), including Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Gymnasium. A complete list of exhibitors is available on the event page.
