Dr. Friedrich-Karl Bruder develops materials for DVDs and holo-disks
Practical physicist: Dr. Friedrich-Karl Bruder (large photo) is a practical man. “It makes me satisfied when the products in which I played a hand work properly in daily life.”
It is a physical phenomenon that is hard for the layperson to grasp, but without in-depth understanding of birefringence, there would be no CDs and we wouldn’t be able to watch James Bond on DVD at home. Bayer researcher Dr. Friedrich-Karl Bruder is using his knowledge of this optical effect to develop new materials for the storage media of the future.
Research to further the music revolution
Together with his team at Bayer MaterialScience, the physicist is working on projects such as optimizing the Bayer plastic Makrolon® for Blu-ray Discs. Their goal is to achieve greater storage capacity, improved optical quality, and optimized mechanical and thermal properties. Read here to discover what led the Bayer researcher to a career in polymer physics and how he almost missed the revolution in the music industry.