On September 16, 2024, Physik Instrumente (PI), the market and technology leader for high-precision positioning technology and piezo applications, inaugurated the new building of its Eschbach site in the Breisgau Business Park in southwestern Germany. Investments of approximately 20 million euros support the expansion of the global development and production center and strengthen the economic development of the region with state-of-the-art jobs.

On July 17, 2024, Physik Instrumente (PI) inaugurated the PI Technology Hub in Karlsruhe, Germany. On an area of 500 sqm, the hub offers space for ten employees of the central department “Global Research” as well as ten additional places for more extensive project work and for PhD students and working students. It is equipped with special laboratories to allow for hands-on experiments. The strategic proximity to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and other research institutions will promote an intensive exchange and close cooperation.

At the Faculty of Science of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, the PI Innovation Award, which is endowed with 2,500 euros, was presented for the first time. The award recognizes scientific research in the form of doctoral theses as the driving force behind innovative solutions and products. The work of award winner Dr. Teresa Wagner deals with new diagnostics for the early detection of therapy resistance in cancer.

At the International Aerospace Exhibition ILA Berlin in June, Physik Instrumente (PI) presented itself as a partner in the LuFo VI-1: ADMAS (Advanced Machining and Sealing) research project. Under the leadership of Airbus, PI has contributed its more than thirty years of expertise in hexapod development to the research project. The project, which was publicly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and supervised by the DLR Project Management Agency for Aviation Research, was successfully completed at the end of April 2024.

PI Ceramic introduces the new product category “Piezoceramic Composites” based on the development of a new manufacturing technology. In this technology, piezoelectric ceramics are embedded in filling polymers. For this purpose, materials with high stiffness as well as with highly elastic polymer matrices can be used. The basic functionalities of piezoceramics, namely ultrasonic conversion and actuator technology, can thus be combined with the properties of the filling polymers. This allows a much better adaptation to application-specific conditions and requirements such as complex shapes as well as specifically adjustable acoustic, mechanical, and electrical properties.

14ACMOS, a new, EU-funded development project for the next semiconductor technology node is expected to enable the production of chip structures with dimensions down to 14 angstroms (1.4 nanometers). Physik Instrumente (PI) participates in the research program by developing ultra-high-precision nanopositioning systems with accuracies better than one millionth of a millimeter.

ピエゾテクノロジーは、特に幅広い医療技術への応用において、能動的マイクロ流体の特定要件を満たすのに適しています。PI セラミック社の新たなホワイトペーパーには、ピエゾアクチュエータの特性と、マイクロ流体における使用例が記載されています。

Physik Instrumente (PI)は、フォトニクスの性能向上を迅速に実現するリーダーシップをさらに発揮するため、今回のPhotonics Westで、AIベースのリアルタイム実行機能を統合した新たなファーストライトサーチメソッド >> PILightning^TM を発表します。数々の受賞歴を誇るPIのフォトニクスプロセス自動化スイートの最新機能は、完全に自動化されたほぼ瞬時のプロセス（特許申請中）によって、時間のかかる検出や手動介入を不要にします。これにより、ウエハのプロービングから最終的なパッケージングまで、あらゆる産業用フォトニクスのアライメントアプリケーションにおけるテストと組み立てのコストを大幅に削減することができます。PILightning^TM のアルゴリズムは、PIのウルトラクリーンエアベアリングステージ、Nanocube、高速ステアリングミラー機構に対してすぐに利用可能で、ACSコントロールの力を活用します。

SiPhチップの組み立てとパッケージングだけでなく、品質保証においてますます重要になっている一連のプロセスに対応するため、PIは、SiPh製造における生産性とスループットの向上に関して世界中のお客様をサポートすべく、メカニカルアライメントシステムの範囲を常に拡大しています。. Photonics West 2024では、既存のシステムに加え、エアベアリングステージと新しいエントリーレベルのシステムを備えた新しいソリューションを発表します。