Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAFTwo researchers from Fraunhofer IAF were honored with prestigious awards at the International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2026) in Boston for their outstanding work as co-authors. Dr. Fabian Thome received the Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award. Dr. Axel Tessmann received the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science & Technology Best Paper Award.
IMS 2026: Two Researchers from Fraunhofer IAF Honored
07/27/2026 / Prestigious awards for Dr. Fabian Thome and Dr. Axel Tessmann
Dr. Fabian Thome, Group Leader System-Oriented RF Circuits at Fraunhofer IAF
Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award for Dr. Fabian Thome
The team of authors led by Dr. Farid Medjoub (CNRS/University of Lille) received the Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award for their October 2024 publication “Emerging GaN Technologies for Next-Generation Millimeter-Wave Applications.” The article provided an overview of gallium nitride (GaN)-based devices for the millimeter-wave range, addressing, among other topics, various transistor concepts and material systems (aluminum scandium nitride, silicon doping) as well as issues related to reliability, characterization, and thermal management.
F. Medjdoub et al., “Emerging GaN Technologies for Next-Generation Millimeter-Wave Applications,” in IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 18–37, Oct. 2024, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2024.3428188. Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10682425
Dr. Axel Tessmann, Group Leader Modules and Systems at Fraunhofer IAF
IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science & Technology Best Paper Award for Dr. Axel Tessmann
The publication titled “THz Communications and the Demonstration in the ThoR–Backhaul Link,” which received the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science & Technology Best Paper Award, was published in September 2024. In it, the team of authors led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Kürner (Technical University of Braunschweig) presents the first bidirectional 300 GHz backhaul link demonstrator, which was developed as part of the European-Japanese collaborative project ThoR. Unlike previous systems, the demonstrator successfully demonstrated, for the first time, a real-time point-to-point data link at 300 GHz over a practical distance of 100 m.
T. Kürner et al., “THz Communications and the Demonstration in the ThoR–Backhaul Link,” in IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 554–567, Sept. 2024, doi: 10.1109/TTHZ.2024.3415480. Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10559434
IMS 2026
The International Microwave Symposium (IMS) of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) took place this year from June 7 to 12, 2026, in Boston. The event is one of the world’s most important conferences in the field of microwave and high-frequency technology. It is regarded as a central platform for technological innovations in the areas of communications, radar, and sensor technology.