Europe launches 1nm chip trial production line to bridge the gap between research and manufacturing

On January 20th, the four top research institutions in Europe (IMEC in Belgium, CEA Leti in France, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Germany, and CSIC in Italy) announced the launch of the first five pilot production lines for the EU chip bill, including a test line called NanoIC that focuses on process technology from 1nm to 7A.

The NanoIC test line is led by IMEC with an investment of up to 1.4 billion US dollars, aiming to surpass the current 2nm process technology and further promote the development of semiconductor manufacturing technology. Other partners include VTT from Finland, CSSNT from Romania, Tyndall National Research Institute from Ireland, and lithography equipment manufacturer ASML.

IMEC also collaborates with other test lines, including the low-power FD-SOI (FAMES test line) coordinated by CEA Leti, the heterogeneous system integration (APECS test line) coordinated by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, and the photonics integrated circuit (PIXEurope) coordinated by ICFO. The fifth test line is led by the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, focusing on novel wide bandgap materials (WBG).