Fraunhofer IZM is powering the evolution of chiplet technologies as part of the APECS pilot line

January 16, 2025 -- The Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM announces its active contribution to the APECS pilot line launched as part of the EU Chips Acts. APECS intends to promote the development and integration of chiplet technologies as a means of making Europe’s semiconductor industry more competitive.

Fraunhofer IZM is taking over a crucial role in the APECS pilot line with its expertise for the hardware integration of chiplet systems. With its access to individual chiplet components, the Institute can cover the entire process flow needed to create fully functioning systems. Its researchers are working on modern 300mm interposer technologies, high-density substrates, advanced assembly technologies, and the necessary processes for the advanced heterointegration of highly integrated systems. Fraunhofer IZM is establishing itself as a key partner for system-level heterointegration in Europe with several focus innovations.

Creating high-precision integration technologies

Chiplet technology requires highly precise assembly on high-density interposers and printed circuit boards. Fraunhofer IZM will advance innovative solutions for implementing these technologies. For example, silicon-based interposers will reduce the contact pitch from the current 15 micrometers to less than a single micrometer. For circuit boards, so-called „advanced PCBs“ promise to also bring the pitch down to the micrometer scale.

To connect chiplets requires efficient interconnection technologies and specialized materials to ensure signal integrity. For the packaging technology, the researchers are pursuing various integration approaches (2D, 2.5D, 3D), where thermal management is crucial to avoid hotspots. In addition, Fraunhofer IZM provides comprehensive test environments to ensure the functionality of the individual chiplets after their integration.

Prototyping substrates

When working with tiny structures at scales down to a single micrometer, specialized substrates are needed for the prototypes that the Institute’s partners in science and industry are using to develop and test advanced technologies for artificial intelligence or high-performance computing.

To this end, the researchers are refining current technologies that work with organic substrates and putting a new focus on novel materials like glass.

Developing modular chiplet architectures

By bringing together multiple specialized chiplets on a single substrate, Fraunhofer IZM is making electronic systems more modular and more economical. Existing chiplet designs can also be reused effectively, a modularity made possible by the toolbox of integration technologies already established at Fraunhofer IZM and refined further as part of APECS.

About the APECS pilot line

The pilot line for »Advanced Packaging and Heterogeneous Integration for Electronic Components and Systems« (or APECS in brief) is a key part of the EU Chips Act, as it will propel innovation in chiplet technology and enrich the semiconductor research and production capacities in Europe. The institutes cooperating in the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD) are working closely with other European partners to complete the APECS line and contribute substantially to making Europe more technologically resilient and competitive in the global semiconductor industry. The pilot line will give large industry players and SMEs or smaller startups easier access to cutting-edge technology and feed into more reliable and resilient semiconductor value chains.

APECS is supported by the Chips Joint Undertaking and by funding from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, and Spain as part of the »Chips for Europe« initiative. In total, funding for the APECS pilot line amounts to 730 million EUR over a period of 4.5 years.

Visit: www.apecs.eu.