JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH

Without them, we wouldn’t have computers, television or cell phones – but, even so, hardly anyone consciously notices them. Semiconducter components are the tiny but essential compenents for almost all electronic systems. But they also play a critical role in the manufacturing of lasers.The Berlin-based JENOPTIK Diode Lab GmbH specializes in the production of semiconductor lasers.

The company wouldn’t be in operation if it weren’t for Berlin’s scientific environment. It came into being in 2002 out of a year-long collaboration between the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH) in Berlin-Adlershof and the pre-existing JENOPTIK Laserdiode GmbH. “This collaboration was so good that it led to the founding of a new company,” says Prof. Dr. Günther Tränkle, of the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut.

Fostering Continued Contact with the Scientific Community

Since its founding, the subsidiary has worked in close collaboration with both the research establishment and its parent company. The idea behind the JENOPTIK Diode Lab is for it to manufacture the laser bars that JENOPTIK Laserdiode uses in developing and manufacturing high-performance diode lasers. These lasers are employed in a number of tasks, including materials processing (e.g. welding, remelting and hardening), and they are standard equipment for both science and industry. According to Günther Tränkle, the transition from being a research to a manufacturing operation went off without a hitch: “Employees at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut went straight from there to the company and brought their know-how with them.” Tränkle also stresses that: “Having connections with the scientific community continues to play a major role. In manufacturing semiconductor components, the JENOPTIK Diode Lab takes advantage of the findings of research conducted at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut.”

Berlin-Adlershof as an Optimal Location for Young Companies

One of the reasons the company had for choosing to locate itself in Berlin was the ease of knowledge transfer it offered. “The Ferdinand-Braun-Institut was already based in Berlin-Adlershof, and being close to research partners was extremely important,” says Günther Tränkle. Just how important this was became clear, for example, in 2006. At that time, the JENOPTIK Diode Lab built a semiconductor factory right next to the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut. And, as Günther Tränkle sees it, Berlin-Adlershof had even more advantages to offer: “By being in the Adlershof Science and Technology Park, the JENOPTIK Diode Lab is integrated into a comprehensive network of research establishments and innovative companies. Moreover, here we have good opportunities for expanding the factory, if necessary.”

Günther Tränkle considers not only Adlershof, but also Berlin as a whole as an optimal location for forming partnerships between research establishments and businesses: “There is a very high concentration of science in the city. With its three universities, other university-level institutions and research establishments, you can find a lot of potential partners to collaborate with. Innovative, young companies that need exactly these kinds of research partners set up operations in just this kind of environment.”