Printing solar cells and organic LEDs
The HySPRINT logo (Helmholtz Innovation Lab) printed on a copper solution symbolizes how the thinnest material layers can be produced simply and cost-effectively. Possible applications are solar cells, organic LEDs or transistors. Photo © Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin/List-Kratochvil
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin form a joint lab and research group “Generative production processes for hybrid components”.
Solar cells, LEDs and detectors made of organic and hybrid semiconductors can nowadays be simply printed out, even together with teensy nanostructures that make them function better. The development of low-cost printing methods for electronic and optoelectronic components is at the centre of things for the new joint research group and the joint laboratory of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU).
Cooperating together in the new research group are the HU workgroup “Hybrid Devices” led by Prof. Dr. Emil List-Kratochvil, the HZB young investigator group of Dr. Eva Unger, the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT, and the Competence Centre Photovoltaics Berlin (PVcomB) directed by Prof. Dr. Rutger Schlatmann. The partners are building up a joint lab at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin that will allow the researchers to acquire and use complementary laboratory infrastructures for various coating methods.
Prof. Emil List-Kratochvil is the head of the HU workgroup “Hybrid Devices” at IRIS Adlershof, and has been working for 15 years on developing electronic and optoelectronic hybrid components, resource-efficient deposition techniques (inkjet printing) and in-situ nanostructuring and synthetic methods. This expertise complements the aims of the HZB young investigator group led by Dr. Eva Unger. She will be developing solution-based manufacturing methods for depositing perovskite semiconductor layers onto larger surface areas for solar cells. “The new research group with List-Kratochvil is a real win for us. With his experience in printed electronic components, he is an ideal cooperation partner for us,” Unger says.
In recent months, the researcher and her team have already come much closer to her goal of developing hybrid tandem solar cells with large-surface-areas in the scope of the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT. Now, the next step is to upscale the process in order to drive the novel solar cells towards market maturity. The Competence Centre Thin-Film- and Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics Berlin (PVcomB) is the ideal partner for the development of industrially relevant manufacturing processes. The joint research group is now striving towards building a pilot line on which to develop prototypes of hybrid components.
- A New Era in Catalysis: ASCEND Launch in Berlin, €30 Million in FundingOn 11 June 2026, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) in Adlershof hosted the launch of ASCEND (Accelerated Solutions for Catalysis using Emerging Nanotechnology and Digital Innovation). The event took place in the presence of the Minister of Research, Dorothee Bär, President of the Helmholtz Association, Prof. Dr. Martin Keller, and President of the Max Planck Society, Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer. Bringing together leading partners from industry and research, ASCEND is supported by BMFTR with €30 million in funding and officially started on 1 April 2026. The initiative aims to accelerate the discovery of next-generation catalysts and enable more sustainable chemical processes.
- X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbolsErich Mercker was a successful painter during the Nazi era and in the years that followed. After 1945, he covered up Nazi symbols in at least one of his paintings. With an interdisciplinary team, physicist Dr Ioanna Mantouvalou reports on this study in the Nature Journal Heritage Science.
- Magnon momentum microscopy: A new window into nanoscale spin-wavesAn international team lead by the Max Born Institute has developed a new type of momentum microscopy to image magnons — the quanta of collectively excited spins — directly in two-dimensional reciprocal space using soft X-rays. Measurements have taken place at BESSY II and PETRA III, first author ist the HZB physicist Steffen Wittrock. Owing to its remarkable sensitivity, simplicity, and access to nanometer-scale wavelengths, this novel technique establishes a powerful and versatile platform for exploring nonlinear magnon interactions, which are promising for future computing schemes.