Even though endowed professorships are still quite new structures, they have now become firmly established in the German academic landscape. They offer a genuine advantage that is particularly important from the point of view of research and transfer: endowed professorships take up the innovative potential of technological developments and promote their translation into university institutions. Their number has increased in the recent past, with endowed professorships now accounting for up to 2% of the total number in Germany. Before we turn to a specific example of such an endowed professorship at Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, it is important to clarify what distinguishes traditional professorships from endowed professorships.
Unlike traditional professorships, the funding is not provided by the state, but by the respective donor, i.e. institutions, companies or private individuals. In addition, the period of the actual endowed professorship is limited, usually to five, sometimes ten years. In consultation with the universities, the endowed professorship is then usually converted into a traditional professorship, thus ensuring the continuity of research and the expertise acquired. A key advantage of these endowed professorships is that innovative fields of research can be developed using this method: The donors determine the thematic focus of the professorship in consultation with the relevant university committees, and provide the funds for the professorship as well as other material and investment resources (e.g. for laboratory equipment). Through these external initiatives, new topics and areas can be introduced that were previously not part of the established canon.
The attraction of these facilities for universities, apart from the point of reduced costs, largely stems from these impulses for research, as can be seen from Roy Knechtel’s endowed professorship through the Carl Zeiss Foundation at Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences. This gave the university the opportunity to build up expertise and skills in a promising field of research. As the funding period for this endowed professorship recently came to an end, now is a good time to take stock.
Opportunities and challenges
On the one hand, newly appointed professors are usually faced with the task of having to determine the direction of their chair in research and teaching based on their interests and ideas. In addition to personnel and technology, this also includes defining thematic priorities. On the other hand, the chairs usually already exist, which means that there is a certain framework and a stock of existing personnel as well as research and teaching resources. In contrast to these continuations of traditional professorships, it is a characteristic of endowed professorships that they are newly established and not linked to an existing chair, which offers opportunities but also poses challenges.
At Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, Roy Knechtel was appointed to the “Autonomous Intelligent Sensor Technology” research professorship funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation in April 2019. The professorship was funded for a period of five years and therefore lasted until March 2024. The professorship, which was funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation as part of a program advertised at, was aimed at an area in which Roy Knechtel had acquired expertise and experience in over twenty years as part of his work at the Erfurt-based company X-FAB: The development of MEMS (Micro Electromechanical Systems) sensor technology.
In addition to smaller projects on sensor applications, a particular focus of his research in recent years has been on technological sub-steps for the realization of sensors and their 3D integration with microelectronics to create complex electronic systems, especially sensor assemblies. It goes without saying that specific systems, laboratories and equipment are required for these research questions. In the best case, these are already available, otherwise the more or less costly path of acquiring them must be taken.
When Roy Knechtel took up his professorship at Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, he found a cleanroom laboratory which, in addition to being particle-free, also allowed the ambient conditions such as temperature and humidity to be controlled. This was already a favorable starting point. In addition, the air conditioning technology in the clean room laboratory was modernized by the end of last year. But Roy Knechtel was also able to build on an existing foundation in terms of plant technology: Not only was there a high-temperature oven that can generate up to 800°C for glassing processes of screen printing materials, but also a screen printer and a screen cleaner. In addition to chemical boxes and a wire bonder, microscope technology, including a scanning electron microscope with EDX technology for material analyses and a soldering technology inventory with a hotplate and a semi-automatic soldering station were already available.
Laying the foundations for research
As a result, Roy Knechtel did not have to start from scratch, but was able to concentrate on systems that are central to the new field of research. The new focus on modern integration technologies in microelectronics and microsystems technology, particularly with regard to sensor integration, made it necessary to acquire processing equipment – such as various types of 3D printers – and special analysis technology in the form of microscopes.
The various 3D printers serve as the basis for research. The Anycubic Photon Mono m5s pro enables the 3D printing of plastics using photolithographic means, i.e. light. Special polymers that react to the UV component of light are used for this purpose. A resolution of up to 18.5µm can be achieved in the production of mechanical components, which represents a high level of precision. The Bambulab X1E is a filament 3D printer with various outlet nozzles for printing fine structures. Thanks to its numerous sensors and software applications, precise and fast printing is possible. Another advantage is the processing of up to 5 colors and materials in one print.
The term 3D printer only begins to describe the most important purchase: The KRONOS 15XBT[1] system is more of a 3D integration system that allows many different possibilities of processes and related components to produce electronic components in three dimensions. For example, the 5-axis system enables the use of 10 printing technologies, and furthermore, with 8 supported modules, it offers extensions of imaging processes, pre- and post-processing and result optimization. The system allows the processing of a wide variety of materials with widely differing viscosities and properties on topographically complex substrates. As a result, the range of applications is many times wider: not only can different processes for printing, curing and testing be used and combined simultaneously, but almost anything from electrically conductive pastes and insulating inks to viscous glass can also be printed.
These printing technologies are complemented by classic photolithography, which is the technological basis of modern semiconductor production. Although the newly acquired maskless digital imagesetter MLA100 from Heidelberg Instruments offers a slower working speed, it does not require expensive masks and still enables a resolution of up to one micrometer (one thousandth of a micrometer). In combination with a table-top sputtering system, it can be used to produce metallic microstructures (also as a combination of two metals) with electronic and magnetic functions or as joining systems. The combination with printing processes is the subject of current research.
In order to enable the continuation of an important research field of Roy Knechtel from his time in industry, wafer bonding, i.e. the defined stacking and joining of semiconductor wafers for the realization of three-dimensional substrates and electronic and sensor solutions, a wafer bonder system was procured thanks to special funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation. This is now being used very intensively. As process control, i.e. analyzing the results, is also very important for wafer bonding, a Scanning Acoustic Microscope (SAM) was loaned by the company PVA Tepla, which has raised research in the field of wafer bonding to an even higher level.
Another area of acquisition is microscopy, which can be used to measure and evaluate process results, among other things. A Zeiss light microscope (LSM 700) uses a laser to reproduce the smallest features. The laser beam moves over the object and scans each point individually using the reflected light. An image is then compiled from this individual information. The microscope can also capture different layers, making it possible to create a three-dimensional model. Finally, the microscope also offers instruments for correcting the imaging.
The other microscope is also from Zeiss: it is an EVO MA15 scanning electron microscope. The objects that this microscope can capture are even smaller. In order to be able to image things the size of a strand of hair, the device does not use light, but electrons. A beam of particles is directed at the materials and the electrons knock out other electrons or bounce off them. An image is then obtained from this information. The microscope’s sharpness of detail is useful when it comes to the surfaces of microchips, for example. The tiny patterns (i.e. micro- and nanostructures) used in the manufacture of these chips can also be captured in this way. The microscope also has the option of energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), which is useful, for example, for analyzing the mixing of two metals to form an alloy. This technology makes it possible to determine which new material is involved.
The team and new challenges
With the successful acquisition of these devices, the next phase can now begin – that of intensive research on and with the devices. Micalea Wenig is a technologically adept research assistant. She ensures the smooth operation of the clean room and the equipment, is now an expert at SAM and conducts her own research. With Lukas Hauck, Roy Knechtel was able to recruit a doctoral student who is working on the 15XBT and investigating whether basic rules can be established for the use of the system with different processes and materials. In addition, Dr. Martin Seyring has joined the team as a research associate who covers an area that is highly relevant to microelectronics: materials science. In order to be able to produce ever smaller and more complex electronic components and circuits, the materials and processes involved are important. In short, a team has now come together that can make the best possible use of the technical possibilities for further research.
This is demonstrated by several research projects with Thuringian industry over the last few years. A current project funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation has led to a further strengthening of this research group in terms of personnel and expertise (which we will be reporting on soon) and to more than ten scientific publications (reviewed articles in specialist journals and conference papers).
In conclusion, it can be said that the endowed professorship has been implemented as planned: The infrastructural foundations for state-of-the-art research have been created and expanded, an efficient research group has been established that continues to grow and work on relevant projects and has many ideas for new future research. The scientists involved and Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences would like to express their special thanks to the Carl Zeiss Foundation for its extensive financial support, as well as for further training events such as the networking meeting of the foundation professors it has appointed, which have made this sustainable research development possible.
[1] Printing system 3D electronics integration Co-financed by the European Union as part of the funding program Directive for the Promotion of Research FTI Thuringia Research, project no. 2022 FGI 0019