The first event of the DGO Thuringia district group in 2025 took place at the Ilmenau-based company Kompass GmbH. The company develops sensors, sensor systems and sensor networks for the acquisition, extraction and interpretation of environmental data, process measurement data and geophysical measurement data on behalf of customers. It also manufactures and sells products and services for measurement and control technology.
After a brief introduction to the medium-sized company by company owner Olaf Mollenhauer, he reported on "New methods for characterizing surfaces, interfaces and materials" in a PowerPoint presentation. The challenges for the Detection, Monitoring and Analysis business units are the interactions in the transition area from macro to nano. Devices developed in-house to determine the adhesion/hardness/pliability of coatings, biomaterials, composites and colloids were presented. These devices can be used to determine tribological interactions of lubricated and non-lubricated material pairings, nanometer layer thickness measurements and dielectric material properties using highly integrated ellipsometry. The devices were specially designed for substance determination, environmental monitoring and material analysis as table-top devices with modern software for recording the extensive measurement data.
After a short break with a snack, some of the devices were presented in more detail. This gave the participants an insight into the various optical measuring principles such as fluorescence, F-quenching and extinction, with special attention being paid to various spectroscopic methods for analyzing PFAS materials and their evaluation.
Of particular interest was the demonstration of measuring devices that can be used to examine materials used in cars and rail vehicles, in wind turbines, in the plastics industry and also in the construction industry. A hand-held device for examining material surfaces and a contact angle measuring device were presented. A Rubber Friction Analyzer provided information on the properties, service life and material suitability of wiper rubbers. A measuring device for determining the viscosity/stickiness and quality of lubricating greases was also demonstrated.
However, the Coating-on-Rod Thickness Analyzer for layer analysis of organic materials with 3D force measurement and ellipsometer measuring system attracted particular interest. The question arose as to whether the device can also analyze thin galvanic chromium layers (from hexavalent or trivalent chromium electrolytes). Of particular interest here is whether these layers differ in composition and morphology. In the last part of his presentation, Olaf Mollenhauer informed the audience about the current development of ellipsometric coating thickness measurements.
