Research projects, Science policy

“I am delighted that ‘QuEnergy’ marks the fourth LOEWE Centre of Excellence to be established at TU Darmstadt,” said TU President Tanja Brühl. “The consortium will address the crucial question of how advanced technologies can be operated in a much more energy-efficient manner in the future. In doing so, it will significantly strengthen our Research Field Matter and Materials. In the field of quantum technologies, we have further strengthened our position in recent years through strategic appointments. I am convinced that the results will have a far-reaching impact on Hesse’s innovation landscape.”
The aim of ‘QuEnergy’ is to develop fundamental concepts for light-based communication and sensor technologies that are based on new insights into quantum physics and require significantly less energy than existing technology. To this end, ten closely networked research groups are combining their expertise in quantum technology, optics, solid-state physics, sensor technology and microscopy.
The motivation for this work lies in the fact that the active layers in modern optical, electronic, and sensing devices are often only a few nanometres thick. At these dimensions, the principles of classical physics no longer provide an adequate description of material behaviour; instead, quantum mechanics governs their properties. These quantum effects enable entirely new functionalities. Key phenomena include quantum entanglement, in which two particles become correlated and behave as a single system; quantum tunnelling, where a particle can pass through an energy barrier despite lacking the classical energy required to overcome it; and quantum superposition, in which a particle can exist in multiple states simultaneously until it is measured.
In some areas, developments in quantum technology have already found their way into everyday life. For example, telecommunications lasers couple data into optical fibres via semiconductor layers just a few nanometres thick. Leading IT companies have introduced first prototype computer centres based on quantum technology.
The ‘QuEnergy’ consortium is now working on three lines of research, both experimentally and theoretically. The first focuses on magnetic semiconductors that are just one atomic layer thick. These are intended to serve as tiny components capable of storing and processing information using light. The second line of research uses quantum physical properties of light for energy-efficient imaging and sensor technology, as well as for optical storage of individual photons – a building block for secure quantum communication. The third area investigates energy conversion in molecules, for example for a new generation of solar cells.
“‘QuEnergy’ is conducting research in a highly dynamic field,” emphasises the project’s scientific coordinator, Professor Bernhard Urbaszek, who heads the Hybrid Quantum Systems research group in the Department of Physics at TU Darmstadt. “With the LOEWE funding, we are laying the foundations for long-term fundamental research and jointly developing insights and concepts for companies in Hesse in the fields of energy efficiency and high technology.”
Alongside ‘MultiDrug-TDM’, ‘FLOW FOR LIFE’ and ‘WhiteBox’, ‘QuEnergy’ is the fourth current LOEWE priority area at TU Darmstadt. A total of six researchers from TU Darmstadt’s Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, and four researchers from the Department of Physics at the University of Marburg, are involved in the consortium. mih
Background
LOEWE research clusters are one of the funding lines under the Hessian “State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE)”. They bundle existing thematically related research capacities across several universities and/or research institutions. The aim is to strengthen and raise the profile of the Hessian research landscape by funding strategically important and innovative projects. The funding of LOEWE research clusters is intended to contribute to the development of certain research areas into nationally and internationally visible research clusters.

About TU Darmstadt
TU Darmstadt is one of Germany’s leading technical universities and a synonym for excellent, relevant research. We are crucially shaping global transformations – from the energy transition via Industry 4.0 to artificial intelligence – with outstanding insights and forward-looking study opportunities. TU Darmstadt pools its cutting-edge research in three fields: Energy and Environment (E+E), Information and Intelligence (I+I), Matter and Materials (M+M). Our problem-based interdisciplinarity as well as our productive interaction with society, business and politics generate progress towards sustainable development worldwide.
Since we were founded in 1877, we have been one of Germany’s most international universities; as a European technical university, we are developing a trans-European campus in the network, “Unite!”. With our partners in the alliance of Rhine-Main universities – Goethe University Frankfurt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz – we further the development of the metropolitan region Frankfurt-Rhine-Main as a globally attractive science location.

MI-No. 26e, mih