The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS has expanded its 300mm technology platform with a highly flexible physical vapour deposition (PVD) system, for developing CMOS-compatible materials and processes for next-generation quantum computing. Installed in collaboration with Polyteknik, the new platform enables the deposition and optimisation of superconducting thin films on 300mm wafers under production-like semiconductor manufacturing conditions.
The system represents leap in Fraunhofer IPMS’s strategy to bridge fundamental materials research and industrial semiconductor manufacturing and is a major milestone towards the establishment of a European Quantum Research Foundry.
The new platform is fully integrated into Fraunhofer IPMS’s 300mm cleanroom environment and complements the institute’s process portfolio within the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD). It also supports several major European pilot line initiatives, APECS, SUPREME and SPINS, which aim to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor and quantum technology ecosystem.
Beyond research activities, the expanded infrastructure provides industrial partners with direct access to a qualified 300mm R&D environment for process validation, material qualification and technology development. This enables companies to evaluate innovative materials and device concepts under manufacturing conditions that closely resemble future high-volume production.
