discovered_01_2016 - Young Facility in Young Hands

WWW.HZDR.DE discovered 01.16 PORTRAIT // April 1st saw the launch of a new ion implanter under the leadership of physicist Roman Böttger. The equipment will increase the pull of what science and industry already consider a very attractive ion beam center. _TEXT . Markus Fehrenbacher YOUNG FACILITY IN YOUNG HANDS It is noisy in the sterile little room. So noisy that you can hardly understand Roman Böttger as he explains: "That’s the aircon. If the air isn’t constantly exchanged and dried, we could end up with lightening-like discharges. We have to prevent that." The head of the "Ion Implantation" group is standing in front of a cube-shaped structure the size of a small automobile. It sits on four black isolators in the middle of the room and is the physicist’s pride and joy. After all, he was one of the main forces behind the set-up of the new ion implanter. It is here that ions, that is, electrically-charged atoms, are accelerated to very high speeds with the help of 500 kilovolts – which is roughly 2,000 times the amount that issues from an electrical outlet. "With such enormous voltages we have to take special safety precautions," says Böttger. Despite his youth, the 29-year-old scientist can look back on a long career in the Ion Beam Center – which is not because he spent such a long time working on his doctorate. On the contrary: Even while he was still at school, the student from the Erzgebirge region laid the foundation stone for his current RACETRACKS: Amid the steel pipes that run from the implanter to four experimental stations: Roman Böttger, the physicist responsible for the facility. Photo: Oliver Killig

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