Heraeus Conamic: Quartz and Beyond

Heating and cooling buildings requires a considerable amount of energy, not only in homes and offices, but also in production and storage facilities. During the production of quartz glass, waste heat is generated by melting quartz sand at extremely high temperatures. Together with Heraeus Site Operations, Heraeus Conamic has developed an innovative and sustainable solution for heat integration in which the waste heat generated is used to heat other buildings.

Quartz glass, whether natural or synthetic, is an exceptional material widely utilized in industry and research for a variety of high-tech applications in IT, communications, medicine, and the environment, thanks to its high chemical purity. Heraeus Conamic and Heraeus Comvance, among the world's few manufacturers of this material, have implemented artificial intelligence to enhance defect detection and ensure unparalleled levels of purity.

This year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to an international team of researchers who investigated new effects caused by the interaction of laser light with atoms in a gas. These effects can be used to generate extremely short light pulses. So-called attosecond light pulses open up exciting possibilities in basic research. They can be used to observe very fast movements of electrons and control chemical reactions, for example.

The annual International Day of Light dates back to the world's first successful use of lasers in 1960. Today, laser systems can be crucial for an important energy source of the future: nuclear fusion. Known as laser fusion, it achieved a breakthrough in December 2022: In an experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA, it was possible for the first time to generate more fusion energy than was injected to heat the fusion fuel - thanks in part to fused silica optics from Heraeus Conamic. What does this break-even point mean for science and what will happen next?

Due to the increasing energy demand of the earth, it becomes more and more important to create sustainable and renewable energy sources. To solve this, researchers are trying to bring the sun's energy generation process to Earth using nuclear fusion.

The world's hunger for energy, especially for electricity, is growing. This trend is being driven by increasing electrification in transport, heating, and industry. According to a study by the World Energy Council (WEC), global electricity demand will increase by almost 150 percent by 2060 compared with 2015. This growth cannot be met with renewable energies alone. Nuclear fusion technologies have currently made important progress. This requires powerful lasers, for which Heraeus Conamic supplies high purity fused silica.