MESA+

☀️ Solar energy in summer? Solved. Winter? Not yet. In the Netherlands, we could produce enough solar energy and together with batteries meet our demand from March to October. But the darker winter months remain a challenge. Adding to the complexity, the solar industry has historically optimized systems for summer yield, maximizing annual output. It’s time for a paradigm shift: we must optimize for winter. In our new paper, "Optimizing bifacial PV performance: The impact of reflectors and free space luminescent solar concentrators on winter yield", we demonstrate how vertical photovoltaic modules, when combined with reflectors and advanced optical metasurfaces, can significantly enhance light collection and solar energy generation in winter conditions. This is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly unlock the potential of solar energy year-round, we also need to advance solar cell technologies themselves. Exciting efforts like SolarNL are addressing this critical need. Let’s rethink solar for every season. 🌍 I would like to thank Anne Rikhof for all her contributions during her Master thesis at University of Twente, MESA+ , Nano Electronic Materials cluster that made this work possible together with the other co-authors Leonie Horst, Jelle Westerhof, Shweta Pal. https://lnkd.in/eW3DAvWB

Last Friday, we hosted the "High Tech Twente Event 2024", and it was an incredible experience! We were excited to hear from several inspiring speakers and to connect with key players in the photonics and high-tech photonic industries. We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to: Prof. David Marpaung (Nonlinear Nanophotonics Group) for sharing insights on cutting-edge research, Henk-Willem Veltkamp for an engaging talk on photonics fabrication in MESA+ and guiding us through an exclusive cleanroom tour, Anneirudh Sundararajan from PHIX Photonics Assembly for hosting an informative company tour. Jörn Epping from Epiphany, Philip P. J. Schrinner from LioniX International, Haider Zia from SuperLight Photonics, Dawson Bonneville from ALUVIA, Jelle Schoppink from FlowBeams , Cristina Cunha from Brilliance RGB, Maura Dantuma from Demcon for sharing valuable insights into photonic innovations. Special thanks to the people that helped us with the organization that made this event possible! Thanks to everyone that joined the event and we’re looking forward to organizing more activities for the community interested in #optics, #photonics.

🌟 Light, Symmetry, and the Fight Against Counterfeiting 🌟 At the MESA+ Nanolab at the University of Twente, we’ve fabricated artificial 3D nanostructures with mirror symmetry. It was an adventure to find out how the mirror symmetry influences the light scattering and leads to intricate interference effects. I'm also proud that we were able to predict these properties with light propagation software developed in Twente (Wavesim by Ivo Vellekoop and colleagues) and fabricate them with a super resolution 3D printer (Nanoscribe thanks Huib van Vossen) in the Nanolab. I’m glad that this work is now reaching a broader audience through a publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. (on the cover!) and a press release from the University of Twente. It’s great to see attention for fundamental discoveries and the potential impact of nanotechnology! Our results holds potential for technologies like anti-counterfeiting, enabling unique light patterns to verify authenticity in passports or detect counterfeit products. 🔍 Beyond its practical applications, this research also deepens our understanding of how light behaves at the smallest level, helping improve microchip production by identifying errors early, without causing damage. 👉 Check out the press release https://lnkd.in/ewEbEiUk https://lnkd.in/eD98_SnF 👉 Read the full article in Physical Review Letters: https://lnkd.in/eyrr7-uH This research was a collaborative effort between University of Twente’s MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, the TechMed Centre, and the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser in Greece, supported by the NWO (Dutch Research Council) project 'Free form scattering optics.' Thanking to my coauthors Sudhir Saini, Evangelos Marakis, Kayleigh Start, Gerwin Osnabrugge & Ivo Vellekoop #Nanotechnology #LightScattering #UTwente #Innovation #QuantumOptics

𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘇𝗼𝗲𝗸𝘁 𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗔+ 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗟𝗮𝗯 𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗮𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮 Op donderdag 19 december bezoekt Zijne Majesteit de Koning het MESA+ NanoLab van de University of Twente. Het werkbezoek staat in het teken van fotonica. "𝘞𝘦 𝘻𝘪𝘫𝘯 𝘻𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘌𝘚𝘈+ 𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘓𝘢𝘣. 𝘏𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘪𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘻𝘰𝘦𝘬 𝘥𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘵 𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘨 𝘪𝘯, 𝘥𝘢𝘨 𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘫𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘻𝘰𝘦𝘬” - Hans Hilgenkamp   Tijdens een rondleiding door het NanoLab is er een mooie rol weggelegd voor studenten van het ROC van Twente, Hogeschool Saxion en de UT, PhD-studenten, onderzoekers en vertegenwoordigers van bedrijven zoals LioniX International, QuiX Quantum, ALUVIA, ASML, ZEISS Group en Malvern Panalytical, die vertellen over het belang van de Cleanroom voor onderwijs, innovatief onderzoek en succesvolle spin-offs.   Aansluitend gaat de Koning tijdens een rondetafelgesprek in gesprek met vertegenwoordigers van het Ministerie van Economische Zaken, Provincie Overijssel, Demcon, VDL Enabling Technologies Group (ETG), Holland High Tech (Topsector High-Tech Systems & Materials), Twente Board, het ROC van Twente, Hogeschool Saxion en de Universiteit Twente, over de ontwikkelingen, kansen en uitdagingen voor de regio Twente op het gebied van fotonica en chiptechnologie. 🔗https://lnkd.in/e2SEFWfb   #Fotonica #Chiptechnologie #Twente

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲: € 𝟮𝟬,𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲 The Dutch cabinet is positive about Twente's Beethoven plans as part of the National Microchip Talent Reinforcement Plan. For the period 2025-2026, the requested budget of €20.5 million has been allocated definitely. Twente can start educating additional talent for the microchip sector in MBO, HBO and WO. Read more about our plans on our website 👇 #talent #chiptech #microchip #semicon #beethoven University of Twente | ROC van Twente | Hogeschool Saxion | Twente Board | ChipTech Twente

Together with Christian Nijhuis, we are looking for a highly motivated PhD Candidate with background in Synthetic Chemistry at the University of Twente in the Department of Molecules and Materials - more details: https://lnkd.in/eKfEcXxc

Today at 12.30h, Justin Grabow will defend his PhD-thesis entitled: 'Exploring Nano- and Microtechnology in Sustainable Agriculture' More information and the link to the live stream can be found on our website 👇 https://lnkd.in/e8Sij5V7 #mesaplus #phd

The gift that keeps on giving 🌷🫱🏼🫲🏼 In 2020, MESA+ and the Institute of Industrial Science (ISS) of the Universiteit van Tokio in Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding. To celebrate this agreement, our collaboration and friendship, we have sent some tulip bulbs to Tokyo. Today, we received these beautiful, heart-warming photos of the tulips planted again to bloom in spring. Thank you, Satoshi, Kaz and all our other IIS friends! We truly appreciate these photos!

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 🚀 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 €𝟑𝟖𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬! Part of this investment will fund a pilot photonic chip factory for photonic chips in the Netherlands, with a production line built in Twente and Brabant. 🌍✨ Guus Rijnders: "We already have a rich history in specialised spin-off companies in chip technology, such as LioniX International and Quix Quantum. They have been able to innovate thanks to the existing infrastructure in the MESA+ NanoLab, but not all the infrastructure is in place yet for photonics. This new facility allows companies and scientists to take a crucial step towards a production environment. A huge milestone!" ChipTech Twente | Twente Board | Oost NL | TNO | PhotonDelta | University of Twente

Two weeks ago, Thies Jansen successfully defended his PhD 'Topology and correlations in oxides and tellurides'. Congratulations Thies! 🎉 "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢-𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴" - Alexander Brinkman, promotor. Thies has successfully made MnBi2Te4 (MBT) behave like a superconductor. This marks an important step in understanding MBT and is significant for future technologies, such as new information processing methods and quantum computing. Are you curious about this research? Read the article on our website 👇 🇳🇱 https://lnkd.in/dudHbUZA 🇬🇧 https://lnkd.in/d4UuqPYS #phd #quantum #quantumtechnology