Third-Party Funded Projects

Supported through the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund:

Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration project “Semantic xLab”

In the Semantic xLab project, the Helmholtz Association is promoting the development of concepts that enable metadata stored by various research facilities to be brought together in a structured manner and made available to researchers in a consolidated form. This will significantly support the sustainable use of research facilities and experimental time. The project brings together scientists from the Helmholtz Institute with teams from the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf and the GFZ Helmholtz Center for Geosciences.

Funding period: 04/01/2025 through 03/31/2027

Supported through the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund:

Helmholtz Imaging Platform Project “GROOVY”

In the GROOVY project, the Helmholtz Association is funding the development of an imaging method that combines EUV ptychography with magneto-optical Kerr microscopy. This enables high-resolution, element-sensitive imaging of nanostructures in the laboratory. For the project, scientists from the Helmholtz Institute Jena are working together with teams at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Max Born Institute.

Funding period: 05/01/2026 through 04/30/2029

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Infrastructure for flexible shaping of high power laser beams

The project (2022 FGI 0005) supports procurement of a laser beam shaping unit for HI Jena. This will allow flexible beam guidance and control of the pulses of both high-power laser systems at the institute, so that the experimental possibilities of the combined JETi–POLARIS target area can be exploited optimally. This will open up new research fields for the institute and its partners in basic research as well as in the generation of ultrashort radiation pulses.

Funding period: 11/11/2022 through 10/31/2025

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Infrastructure for femtosecond synchronization of high-power laser pulses

The project (2022 FGI 0008) supports the installation of a system for high-precision synchronization of the pulses provided by the complementary laser systems POLARIS and JETi in the new target chamber. This infrastructure, which is almost unique in the world, provides a variety of innovative experimental possibilities to the institute, and further strengthens its prominent position in the development and application of high-power lasers.

Funding period: 12/16/2022 through 10/31/2025

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Artificial intelligence for high-power lasers at the Helmholtz Institute Jena

The Helmholtz Institute Jena operates high-power lasers with internationally-leading capabilities. There are currently two lasers – JETi and POLARIS – with complementary properties. The synchronized use of these two systems with a control system based on artificial intelligence would represent a globally unique research system. To achieve this goal, the project (2023 FGI 0022) aims to develop AI-compatible control software and hardware for experiments with femtosecond resolution.

Funding period: 11/01/2023 through 10/31/2026

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Infrastructure to increase the peak intensity of the high-power laser systems at HI Jena

The project (2023 FGI 0023) aims to improve the peak intensities of the POLARIS and JETI laser pulses at HI Jena by orders of magnitude through the procurement of special optical components. This will allow the institute to continue to carry out research on laser-based particle and secondary radiation sources at a world-class level at the research location in the future and to provide important impulses for the Thuringian (optics) industry.

Funding period: 11/01/2023 through 10/31/2026

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Precision cut-off grinding machine for X-ray optics

The infrastructure of the HI Jena for the development and production of X-ray optics will be modernized and improved through the project (2024 FGI 0014) by procuring a precision cut-off grinding machine equipped with X-ray diagnostics. The machine enables the cutting of hard and brittle materials and can also be used in a variety of ways beyond the production of X-ray optics. This enables the production of unique X-ray optics, which are indispensable for research in the field of quantum electrodynamics as well as in energy and materials research at the most brilliant X-ray sources.

Funding period: 11/01/2024 through 10/31/2026

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

fs laser system for innovative coating technology and ultrafast spectroscopy

As part of this project 2024 FGI 0015, a femtosecond laser system is to be installed at HI Jena in order to produce innovative thin-film systems with atomically smooth interfaces by means of laser deposition and to investigate them using extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy. This will bring together basic research and applications in coating technology at a world-class level, which will also provide important impetus for the Thuringian (optics) industry.

Funding period: 11/01/2024 through 10/31/2027

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Target for EUV Generation (TEE)

Within the project 2025 FGI 0001, a tin target is to be procured that will enable the Helmholtz Institute Jena to carry out fundamental experimental investigations on conversion efficiency in the in-band EUV range at approx. 13.5 nm. This will make it possible to identify optimum driver parameters for EUV sources on a laboratory scale.

Funding period: 11/05/2025 through 10/31/2027

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Development of an infrastructure for focussing the laser pulses of high-power laser systems (FOKUS)

The project 2025 FGI 0002 is an important building block in the expansion of the experimental infrastructure at the Helmholtz Institute Jena. Through it, two parabolic mirrors with a large diameter and short focal length of the highest optical quality for the JETi and POLARIS laser systems will be procured. They will significantly improve the focusability of the laser pulses and increase the peak intensity, enabling numerous new types of experiments with the two laser systems. This will allow the institute to continue conducting cutting-edge research at the highest international level and to cooperate with Thuringian industry to realize various applications.

Funding period: 11/06/2025 through 10/31/2028

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia with funds from the European Regional Development Fund:

Brilliant Ion Sources – Development and Test

Liquid-metal ion sources, which operate on the principle of ion emission via field evaporation from a liquid alloy on a needle tip, are distinguished as excellent sources by their high beam-divergence and small virtual source size on the order of a few nanometers. The ion beam already has a very small phase space volume at the moment of its generation, which is advantageous for e.g. the production of ionic laser targets for high-field laser physics. Overall, this technology offers a cost-effective and flexible option for ion generation and has broad application potential in analysis, research, and industry. In the joint project 2025 VDY 0067, researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Jena, Friedrich Schiller University, and JEVATEC GmbH are working on the development and commercialization of such sources.

Funding period: 05/01/2026 through 04/30/2027

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia and through funding from the European Social Fund Plus:

Multimodal nanoscale XUV imaging (Multi-XUV)

Due to its short wavelengths, the XUV spectral range has become increasingly important for both the production and imaging of the smallest structures in the nanometer range. Based on a series of breakthroughs in the generation and application of spatially coherent XUV radiation achieved in Jena in recent years, the research group 2023 FGR 0053 will develop and realize additional imaging modalities, in particular for applications in biology and materials science, and also open up the spectral range of soft X-ray radiation.

Funding period: 01/01/2024 through 12/31/2026

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia and through funding from the European Social Fund Plus:

Nanostructured Optics for Extreme Ultraviolet Light (NANO-EUV)

The research group NANO-EUV (2025 FGR 0049) aims to achieve precise control of EUV light fields using novel nanostructured EUV optics. The project combines three research priorities: (i) the investigation and control of EUV light propagation in nanostructures, (ii) the fabrication of nano-optics, and (iii) the measurement of EUV light fields with ultra-high resolution. To this end, researchers from the Helmholtz Institute are collaborating with teams from Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

Funding period: 01/01/2026 through 12/31/2028

Supported by the Federal State of Thuringia:

Digital Innovation Hub Photonics+

The Digital Innovation Hub Photonics (DIHP) is a project of the state of Thuringia – supported by the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society – which aims to promote start-ups in the field of optics and photonics at the Beutenberg research campus in Jena. It is located at the Center of Excellence in Photonics of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and the Institute for Applied Physics IAP of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and also includes the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology HKI, the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies IPHT, and the Helmholtz Institute Jena.

Funding period: 09/01/2021 through 12/31/2026