Research Fields

A - Transducer principles

Energy-autonomous microsystems are well suitable for various application szenarions and locations. Thereby, the available ambient energies will differ in type and intensity. In every case, electrical energy must be scavenged to power the embedded microsystems. Therefore, the energy conversion is a main topic of the reserach train group with a special focus on transducer principles for mechanical, thermal and chemical energy.

B - Materials and storage technology

Ambient energies exhibit a fluctuating intensity. For a reliable operation of electronics it is mandatory to utilize an intermediate storage device for the scavenged electrical energy. The research in this field focuses on functional nano-materials and methods for surface manipulation. Moreover, hydrogen-based storages as alternative to chemical storages are developed.

C - Power management and system control

An efficient power management is indispensible for the operation of the total system composed of the transducer, the energy storage and the attached electronics. Thereby it has to be regarded which energy densities in general can be realized in certain applications. These aspects are addressed in the research field C.

D - Energy-autonmous microsystems

The research fields A-C form the basis for the design of integrated systems. The challenges of the system integration of energy-autonomous, embedded microsystems is addressed in this research field D. The projects focus on the interaction of the basic components with the final goal to present fully autonomous devices.