German Vacuum Society Awards the 2026 Rudolf Jaeckel Prize

The 2026 Rudolf Jaeckel Prize from the German Vacuum Society (DVG) has been awarded to Dr. rer. nat. Jörg Vetter. With this award, the DVG honors his outstanding work on the scientific fundamentals, technological development, and industrial applications of arc evaporation, particularly regarding multifunctional transition-metal nitrides and amorphous, diamond-like carbon layers. Vetter began his scientific career in the mid-1980s in the fields of surface engineering and tribology. Starting in 1990, he worked at Multi Arc, Metaplas, Sulzer Metaplas, and later Oerlikon Balzers for more than three decades on the development and industrial implementation of innovative PVD and PACVD processes. In doing so, he combined fundamental physical research with the development of equipment, processes, and industrially applicable coatings.

Further Developed PVD, AEGD, and HiPIMS Processes

His outstanding contributions include the development of the Arc Enhanced Glow Discharge (AEGD) for generating highly ionized plasma and ion purification in PVD systems, as well as work on AlTiN and AlCrN hard coatings. Vetter also made early, fundamental contributions in the field of amorphous carbon coatings and ta-C and drove their transition to large-scale coating systems. In addition, he has conducted research on hybrid processes, particularly the combination of arc evaporation and HiPIMS. His developments are applied, among other things, in tools and components, in the automotive and powertrain sectors, and for wear and corrosion protection. Vetter remains active even after leaving industrial research. Today, one of his main focuses is on the industrial advancement of HiPIMS and its combination with other highly ionized plasma processes. Since 2023, he has been running his own consulting firm, J.Vetter-S3-consulting.