About
epiray
epiray was founded in 2021 and is a spin-off of the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid-State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. It is based on the work of the research group of Max-Planck director Prof. Dr. Jochen Mannhart, who founded and leads the department since 2011. Prof. Mannhart and Dr. Wolfgang Braun lead the development of the Thermal Laser Epitaxy technology. Both support epiray as technology advisors and Dr. Wolfgang Braun currently leads epiray as CEO.
epiray’s CTO, Dr. Hans Boschker, joined Dr. Mannhart’s research group in 2011 and has since worked on the growth of quantum-matter heterostructures and the study of superconducting and magnetic materials. He was a key member of the thermal laser epitaxy technology development team and is an expert on complex-oxide materials. Hans is a co-founder of epiray and drives the technology side of the business, including technical marketing and customer support. He studied at the University of Twente, specializing in pulsed laser deposition.
epiray has an ongoing joint TLE research agreement with the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid-State Research and has obtained an exclusive license for the broadly patented technology (more than 20 patent applications and growing). This close connection allows epiray to benefit from research advances at Max-Planck in addition to its own R&D efforts.
epiray stands for EPItaxy with laser RAYs.
Scientific Advisory Board
The key inventors of Thermal Laser Epitaxy support epiray as scientific advisors.
Jochen Mannhart
Prof. Dr. Jochen Mannhart is director at the Max Planck Institute for solid-state research and an internationally acclaimed expert regarding thin film growth and quantum electronics. He studied and obtained his Ph.D. at Universität Tübingen and worked at the IBM Research Division in Yorktown Heights (USA) and Rüschlikon (CH). With his group at IBM he invented the worldwide first cluster-tool for growth of oxide thin films, a technique that is broadly used today around the globe. In 2011 he joined Max-Planck as a director. His work comprises over 300 publications, over 40 patents, and he received numerous awards such as the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award from IBM, Fellowship of the American Physical Society, Leibniz Preis of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Europhysics Prize of the Europhysical Society.
Wolfgang Braun
Dr. Wolfgang Braun is a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for solid-state research and specializes on thin film epitaxy and deposition technology. He studied at Stuttgart University and Georgia Tech, and obtained his Ph.D. from Humboldt University in Berlin. After a post-doc at Arizona State University, Tempe, he worked on fundamentals of crystal growth at the Paul-Drude Institute and the synchrotron BESSY II in Berlin. After several years as managing director of a molecular beam epitaxy equipment manufacturer, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. He focuses on fundamental crystal growth processes in ultrathin layers, the analysis and control of deposition processes using diffraction techniques, and thin film deposition technology. He is the author/coauthor of more than 100 scientific publications and a book on reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED).