The network
The Nanotechnology Competence Centre CC UPOB is a registered association with 34 members. Its activities are financed mainly by member contributions and income from fee-based services. The association promotes the cooperation of its members in the field of ultra-precise surface figuring. It creates opportunities for the exchange of ideas and experience, and supports the resulting cooperation.
Main activities
The executive office of the CC UPOB e.V. is located on the premises of one of the founding members of the CC UPOB, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig. The spatial vicinity creates a great number of opportunities for cooperation and joint projects of UPOB members and PTB. The main focus is on the following activities:
• producing feasibility studies
• intermediating cooperation partners between industry and research
• organising joint fair stands
• providing expert opinions
• conducting seminars and workshops
• offering support in the search for surface figuring methods and corresponding measurement techniques
• defining standards and technical regulations
• organising advanced training measures
The technological focus
"The manufacture of technical functional areas of highest precision and their metrological characterisation" is the objective which unites all members in the CC UPOB e.V. To achieve this objective, very different approaches and methods are linked up. The structure of the CC UPOB can, therefore, be subdivided into four competence areas:
- mechanical/chemical finishing
- ion beam and plasma finishing
- optical finishing and related fields
- characterisation of surfaces
Ultra-precise technology includes all finishing procedures in which bodies and surfaces with macroscopic dimensions are manufactured with extreme precision of form and smoothness. The more precisely smoothed and formed the surfaces are, the better their characteristics. However, this process requires the investigation of methods of finishing new materials. For this purpose, conventional methods must be perfected and totally new production methods developed and optimised with the aid of simulation and modelling. Therefore, market perspectives result for both the manufacturers of finishing machines and the manufacturers of components and substrates.
Highlights
High-level expert meetings
The CC UPOB association regularly organises international meetings
which show the status quo, the capabilities and the research needs in
the area of ultra-precise surface figuring. In the first half of 2010,
CC UPOB will organise a meeting on the topic of "asphere metrology".
Here, manufacturers of measuring instruments will present the diverse
methods, modes of operation and the potential of their devices and
practically demonstrate the strengths of their systems with various
samples, while at the same time offering a glimpse of future trends in
the sector of metrology.
AFM kit for pupils
With the aid of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), the nanoworld can
be made "visible". Based on its experience in microscope development,
the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), a founding member of CC
UPOB, has developed raster force microscopes suitable for use in
education and training facilities due to their simple construction and
operation. The aim of these activities is to make a cost efficient
microscope kit available and to compile a list of experiment proposals,
which are developed together with the schools. The PTB and CC UPOB
support schools of the region in purchasing, assembling and beginning
operation of one of these devices.
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