2023-07-18 16:30:16
During his visit to Leoben, Florian Tursky gained an insight into the new research and production center that the global high-tech group AT&S is currently building at its headquarters
Leoben (OTS) – Setting the course for Austria’s microelectronics industry. The successful “summit” on Thursday in the Federal Chancellery showed the determination of politics and industry to position Austria strongly here. Time is running out. In an international comparison, Europe is lagging behind. Asian and US companies dominate all stages of microchip manufacturing, while Europe produces only 10% of microchips but buys 20% of world production. With the European Chips Act, which was passed in the EU Parliament these days, the Commission wants to take countermeasures: by 2030, the EU is to produce at least 20 percent of the microchips required worldwide. Austria can play an important role in this. Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer formulated a strong goal: “Microchips made in Austria should be just as well known as Lipizzaner and Mozart balls.”
To achieve this, it is crucial in the first step to close strategic technology gaps in the supply chain for increasingly complex high-performance processors. So-called back-end technologies, such as those offered by AT&S, are of central importance, i.e. connection technology and substrates that are essential for processing the semiconductor into the finished microchip. The research and production center, which AT&S is currently realizing as part of IPCEI Microelectronics II, brings the latest process technology to Austria and should become an important step in the door to the global market for energy-efficient microelectronics for Europe.
„With our new research and production center in Leoben, we at AT&S offer a best-practice example of the direction Europe’s microelectronics industry might be heading in
“, explained CEO Andreas Gerstenmayer during the visit of Florian Tursky, State Secretary for Digitization and Telecommunications, on Tuesday in Leoben and outlined the situation: “Europe needs to build essential know-how and skills to break free from dependencies and gain access to crucial elements of the supply chain.
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State Secretary Tursky, who was able to take a look at the first machines and gain an insight into the clean room of the new research and production center, emphasized: “With regard to a functioning EU chip ecosystem and the desired technological sovereignty of Europe, microelectronics is becoming increasingly important. Only with their key technologies will we be able to successfully take the path into the digital decade that the EU is striving for.
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Building on existing programs such as IPCEI ME II, the EU’s commitment to future investment under the Chips Act shows that politicians have recognized the importance of microelectronics. It is crucial to realize competitive funding conditions now – both globally and in the European context. Andreas Gerstenmayer: “There is currently a unique opportunity to position Austria and Europe in the fast lane. For this we need more research and development, better conditions for companies that produce here, and an investment package that can keep up with the subsidies for the chip industry in the USA and China.
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The European lighthouse project that AT&S is building at its headquarters in Leoben as part of IPCEI ME II is a development and production center for connection technology and substrates in the high-end technological area for high-performance microprocessors that is unique in Europe and the western world. In the long term, this new high-tech center can trigger the establishment of microelectronics packaging technologies in Europe.
It is a technology area with significant growth potential, where significant increases in performance with reduced energy consumption are expected for numerous high-end applications. This applies in particular to complex process technologies in the direction of the 2-nanometer chip processors addressed by the EU, where we are increasingly reaching the physical limits of transistor miniaturization, but also for future fields such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computers, edge computing, IoT, cloud computing , 5G/6G, servers, networks and much more.
In these central areas, which can make a significant contribution to achieving the climate goals, Europe currently lacks the basis on the hardware side, specifically: the technological know-how. Because Europe’s microelectronics industry is particularly successful in existing niches for the automotive and industrial sectors. As a leading producer of microelectronics for high-performance applications in data centers and high-performance computers, AT&S is the exception here.
The opportunities are there, even if time is of the essence. “With smart decisions, the substrates for high-performance processors and future-oriented connection technologies produced in the new AT&S research and production center can become the nucleus of a flourishing European microelectronics ecosystem. In view of the intensifying demographic change, this also requires a targeted immigration of highly qualified workers with corresponding integrative framework conditions
“, emphasized Andreas Gerstenmayer and, in conversation with State Secretary Florian Tursky, pointed out that AT&S is creating a European network in Leoben that connects numerous research institutions, universities and industrial partners and thus supports the development of innovative solutions to achieve the climate goals.
Questions & contact:
AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG
Gerald Reisschl
VP Corporate Communications
03842 200 4252 or 0664 8859 2452
g.reischl@ats.net
1689723843
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