Innovation in figures

Heraeus currently holds more than 4,700 patents. In fiscal year 2007, the Group filed 97 new patent applications and invests approximately € 60 million in research and development annually. Over 350 R&D employees in 25 development centers around the world fuel our innovative engines.

That’s how many platinum pellets and rivets for automotive spark plugs Heraeus manufactured last year. The pellets are less than a millimeter (0.6 to 0.8 mm to be exact). Placed next to each other, the spheres would form a line around 16 kilometers long. They are located precisely at the tip of the spark plug where temperatures can exceed 1000 °C and they can extend plug life up to three times. Platinum-nickel and platinum–iridium alloys are typical materials used in spark plug electrodes.Heraeus manufactures large quantities of the high-quality precision balls using special production facilities.

One ounce (31.1 grams) of gold can be drawn into a thread up to 60 km (37 miles) long.—or— One gram of gold is enough to make a hair-fine wire 2 km (1¼ miles) long. Gold wires like those commonly used in the electronics industry are just 1/100 mm thick and

99.999 % pure.

The fact is that teeth define a person’s aesthetic appearance. They are essential for our ability to speak and communicate. Teeth make it possible to eat a variety of foods, therefore preventing illnesses caused by poor nutrition. The quality of life is simply lower without teeth. Tooth loss among adults and seniors has experienced a significant decline since 1997. Today, adults are missing on average 2.7 teeth. Approximately 22.6 percent of adults in Germany ages 65 – 74 have no teeth. Heraeus manufactures 50 million denture teeth per year. Each individual tooth is an artificial, biocompatible “replacement part,” which must meet the highest aesthetic and functional requirements in the patient’s mouth.

The modern Basílica de Nossa Senhora, Brazil’s most important pilgrimage destination and the largest Catholic church in the world after St. Peter’s Cathedral, has been under construction since 1955. The cathedral’s cupolas are gilded with small tiles. These are produced with the Heraeus glaze-protected bright gold decoration system. After firing, the fine gold leaf, just 0.1 micrometer thick, lies under a protective coat of glass. The finished tile is extremely resistant to abrasion, heat and moisture. The laborious decoration of the first cupola required some 300,000 tiles and took a year to complete. Now work has begun on the second cupola, and Heraeus is also supplying all the necessary materials—bright gold paste, tile colors, and auxiliary materials for decorating the cupolas.

You know you’ve chosen the right gold nib if the ink forms crisp lines as it glides gently over a sheet of paper. The rounded tip of the nib has to be very hard, abrasion-resistant, long-lasting, ink proof, and capable of being soldered on gold and steel pens. Only highquality precious metal alloys are suited for this purpose. The small precious metal balls on the tip of pen nibs – measuring only 0.6 to 1.6 mm – are predominantly made of ruthenium-osmium alloys. Heraeus has specialized expertise like no other company in the manufacturing of these products. The company has produced these coveted alloys since the 1920s. Originally they were made of osmium and iridium. Today, 93 percent of pen points produced around the world come from Hanau, Germany.

They are as fine as a single hair, yet they are enormously powerful: Optical fibers make it possible to transport huge quantities of data quickly and securely across continents and oceans. Heraeus develops and produces high-purity synthetic silica glass tubes and cylinders for manufacturing effective optical fibers, so Internet users can access information even more quickly. Heraeus Quarzglas has contributed to the production of some 250 million kilometers of optical fibers for optical data transmission technology. This is equivalent to the distance between the sun and Mars.

Glassfibers (97.2 KB)

Until the 2008 Olympic Games, China issued its citizens one billion electronic identity cards. Every single card contains a bit of Heraeus know-how: an endless flexible substrate made of a copper/tin alloy and coated with silver. A microchip is embedded in the substrate, attached to bonding wire and clad in plastic for protection. The individual production steps for these stamped and coated parts, some of which are patented, take place only in Hanau. Up to three biometric characteristics — fingerprint, iris and facial contours — can be stored on the cards.

This is the length of what may well be the longest infrared emitter in the world. Heraeus recently produced the recordbreaking lamp for an Italian safety glass manufacturer. Safety glass consists of two sheets of glass with an intermediate layer of plastic foil. In the production process, large sheets of glass are first made and then cut down into smaller sheets depending on the respective use. The sheets of glass are scored or cut. Some manufacturers use infrared lamps to cut the sheet of foil in the middle. Fast medium wave infrared emitters with special gold coatings are frequently used in this context. The lamps produce tremendous heat in the crack between the sheets of glass. The foil melts and the sheets can then be pulled apart.

Heraeus is a market leader in Germany and Europe in the production of laboratory equipment made from precious metals. The company produced the first platinum crucibles as early as 1870 and now produces several thousand standard crucibles the size of a shot glas each year, though some are significantly larger. In 2006, Heraeus received a rather unusual special order from an international customer who needed a crucible the size of a rain barrel for a special application. Approximately 20 kilograms of platinum were processed for the crucible, making the giant not only one of the largest, but also one of the most expensive crucibles that Heraeus has ever manufactured. The actual cost and purpose of the crucible are a trade secret.