Current Press Releases

In order to consolidate and expand the existing microelectronic research and development in Germany regarding quantum and neuromorphic computing, the FMD launched on December 1, 2022, a joint project together with four other Fraunhofer institutes, the Jülich Forschungszentrum and AMO GmbH: The Research Fab Microelectronics Germany - Module Quantum and Neuromorphic Computing (FMD-QNC). The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the equipment and structural setup required for the project.

Prof. Dr. Harald Kuhn, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz, joins the scientific Advisory Board of the IVAM Microtechnology Network as new chairman.

Across the EU, more than 300 billion items of packaging are not recycled every year because they consist of a mixture of different materials. Monomaterial packaging on the other hand is easy to recycle. However, it needs to be coated with ultra-thin barrier layers to protect delicate products just as well as compound materials do. The Fraunhofer team is developing an optical measurement system enabling the inline quality control of these barrier layers.

Fraunhofer ENAS and memsstar Limited are partnering. In order to ensure the quality of the reactive ion etching processes in MEMS manufacturing and the throughput Fraunhofer ENAS works now with a fully remanufactured “Applied Materials Centura 5200” 200 mm plasma etching tool.

The annual Smart Systems Integration Conference and Exhibition will be held in Bruges, Belgium, March 28-30, 2023. The conference systematically addresses all system integration aspects. This includes integration of different functionalities, heterointegration, packaging, software integration including firmware as well as reliability and safety aspects. The SSI connects science, industry and politics. It is the platform for networking of the different experts on the one hand from the hardware and software area, on the other hand from the different levels of the products, from system-on-chip over system-in-a-package up to system-of-systems for different application domains. At the same time the apc|m conference takes place in the Bruges conference center. Both conferences have their own profile, but the common venue gives participants the opportunity to exchange ideas on topics of mutual interest and to cross-fertilize.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems is a specialist in the development of innovative sensors and actuators as well as their integration into application-oriented systems. The focus of the development lies on systems and novel components based on future-oriented technologies, which significantly expand the state of the art with intelligent system integration and are tailored to the requirements of the respective users. Dr. Chris Stöckel has successfully established a microsystem platform (MEMS platform) based on piezoelectric aluminum nitride and receives the Fraunhofer ENAS Research Award 2021 for this.

The economic consequences of the current chip shortage highlight the importance of microelectronics. In order to prepare for the future, technological sovereignty in microelectronics research and development is required, in addition to new production facilities in Europe. This is precisely the challenge that the High Performance Center "Functional Integration for Micro- /Nanoelectronics" is addressing. It combines the competencies of four microelectronics institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as well as of research groups at universities in Dresden and Chemnitz. This way, the center offers a whole spectrum of microelectronics and micromechanics technologies to both major players in the microelectronics industry and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs in particular can profit from a low-threshold service through the provision of technology platforms, which allows them to benefit from leading edge technology without the burden of excessively high development cost.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS is presenting various printing technologies for functionalizing 3D objects at this year‘s LOPEC in Munich. Applications range from contacting individual microchips in electronic systems to large-area heating structures for seats. At the booth, the research team will show a robot setup with an integrated print head for inkjet printing and functionalized prototypes.