Born 23.10.1965 in Berlin, Germany. Study of materials science specializing in glasses at TU Berlin under Prof. Brückner, graduating with degree Dipl.Ing. in 1992 (“Production and optimization of C-fiber reinforced glass ceramics based on cordierite and bariumosumilite”). Subsequently worked on a research project at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Division Glass, on the subject "Surface nucleation of silicate glasses of the stoichiometry of cordierite and diopside" (doctoral thesis 2001, TU Berlin). Since 1992 scientific employee at BAM. Main topics: Thermal analysis of glasses and glass ceramics, crystallization behavior of glasses, sintering behavior of glasses and glass matrix composites, relaxation behavior of glasses using dynamic mechanical analysis.

Oriented Surface Crystallization in Glasses

Up to now, oriented surface crystallization phenomena are discussed controversially, and related studies are restricted to few glasses. For silicate glasses we found a good correlation between the calculated surface energy of crystal faces and oriented surface nucleation. Surface energies were estimated assuming that crystal surfaces resemble minimum energy crack paths along the given crystal plane. This concept was successfully applied at the Institute of Physics of Rennes in calculating fracture surface energies of glasses. Several oriented nucleation phenomena can be herby explained assuming that high energy crystal surfaces tend to be wetted by the melt. This would minimize the total interfacial energy of the nucleus. Furthermore, we will discuss the evolution of the microstructure and its effect on the preferred crystal orientation.