Four European semiconductor pilot lines get the nod

The European Chips Joint Undertaking has entered into negotiations with four consortia to establish pilot lines for a variety of semiconductor technologies. Upon successful conclusion of the talks, the projects will receive grants for the setup, integration and process development and for operational activities. The pilot lines are funded jointly by the EU, from the Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Program, the member states and private contributions. The four consortia will focus on the development of < 2nm CMOS (project leader: Imec), FD-SOI (CEA-Leti), heterogeneous system integration (Fraunhofer) and wide band-gap technologies (Italy’s CNR).

Several Dutch organizations are currently drafting proposals for pilot lines focusing on integrated photonics, one targeting the indium phosphide platform and one the use of silicon nitride integrated-photonics technology for quantum technology. Separately, a public-private consortium from the Twente region is working on establishing a silicon nitride foundry. Guus Rijnders, one of the project figureheads, told Bits&Chips that New Origin is currently scouting locations, assembling a team and designing the production line.