Know-how for microstructure and failure diagnostics: Fraunhofer IMWS supports EU pilot line for innovative electronics

Strengthening the European electronics industry through targeted support for innovative technologies and advanced manufacturing processes: This is the aim of the pilot line for "Advanced Packaging and heterogeneous Integration for Electronic Components and Systems" (APECS), which is being funded with a total of 730 million euros as part of the EU Chips Act. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) is contributing its expertise in quality assurance for highly complex electronic components. The first funding decision by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is co-financing the APECS pilot line, was handed over today.

Der Förderbescheid wird übergeben.
© Fraunhofer IMWS
Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, Minister for Science, Energy, Climate Protection and the Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt (right) presented the funding decision to PD Dr. Christian Schmelzer (Acting Director, left) and Frank Altmann (Head of Business Unit "Electronic Materials and Components" at Fraunhofer IMWS).

Europe needs an efficient and competitive semiconductor industry as a driver of innovation for key sectors such as artificial intelligence, mobility, production, information and communication technologies. As part of the EU Chips Act, the European Commission is funding the establishment of several research pilot lines to increase technological resilience in Europe and provide small and medium-sized enterprises in particular with low-threshold access to advanced semiconductor solutions.

The APECS pilot line, which is coordinated by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and implemented by the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD), focuses on new technologies for system integration and the use of chiplets. These are small, modular semiconductor components that can be combined like a jigsaw puzzle. A chiplet has a defined function (e.g. processor, sensor, memory) based on a specific design. Combining several chiplets results in a "system in package". If chiplets based on different technologies are combined (e.g. silicon technology, photonic chips), this is known as heterointegration. It enables a particularly high integration density as well as a flexible and scalable architecture.

"By focusing on innovative heterointegration and chiplet technologies, Europe can build on existing strengths and secure a leading position for a key aspect of future electronics applications," said Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, Minister for Science, Energy, Climate Protection and the Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, at the presentation of the €1.26 million funding decision. "The format of the pilot line will strengthen cooperation between research and industry, increase Germany's technological resilience and innovative capacity and enable new value creation locally. I am delighted that we are able to support this project and that valuable expertise from Saxony-Anhalt is being incorporated into it."

An important component of the APECS pilot line is quality assurance, i.e. the functional testing of components and the analysis of process-related defects, the evaluation of application-specific failure risks and the clarification of failure mechanisms. This is a core competence of the Fraunhofer IMWS and is highly relevant in order to ensure the suitability of electronic components for later use, particularly for reliability-critical applications such as automotive electronics.

"The enormous complexity in the field of heterointegration, i.e. the combination of different semiconductor technologies in a compact component, is a major challenge for quality assurance and failure diagnostics. The ever-smaller electrical contact structures in such high-performance components, the very complex interconnections and three-dimensional structures and the growing variety of materials and interfaces require numerous new microstructural analysis methods in order to be able to identify and evaluate micro- and nanometer-scale defect formations. This is precisely where we can contribute our many years of expertise," says Frank Altmann, head of the "Electronic Materials and Components" business unit at the Fraunhofer IMWS. "With the expansion of our equipment, we are further expanding our leading role in microstructure-based defect diagnostics and will remain an attractive partner for our industrial customers in the future."

The Fraunhofer IMWS is thus playing a decisive role in the set-up and development of the APECS pilot line. Building on the internationally recognized expertise of the specialists in Halle (Saale), the work on the pilot line is intended to provide industry partners with in-depth knowledge of failure and reliability risks for new electronics technologies.

"Our participation in the APECS pilot line is both a recognition of our scientific achievements to date in the field of microelectronics and a great opportunity for the institute to provide important impetus for future technologies and translate the latest approaches from research into industrial application. We are very pleased about the support for the pilot line and look forward to successful cooperation with all those involved in APECS," says PD Dr. Christian Schmelzer, acting director of the Fraunhofer IMWS.

The APECS pilot line has received funding of €730 million over 4.5 years from the EU's Joint Undertaking Chips and national funding from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Spain as part of the Chips for Europe initiative. The consortium consists of ten partners from eight European countries, each contributing their expertise and infrastructure. In Germany, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the states of Saxony, Berlin, Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt are involved in funding the pilot line.