More space for top international research

The clean room - the technological heart of the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics in Frankfurt (Oder) was extended by half in just 2.5 years of construction and continues to set the IHP on a course towards leading microelectronic solutions of the future.

As part of the ceremonial inauguration of the clean room extension, the new part of the building was opened today. The IHP took this important step together with numerous guests and representatives from politics, science and research world. The Minister of Science, Research and Culture of Brandenburg, Dr. Manja Schüle, Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Lukas, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Prof. Dr. Albert Sickmann, Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute ISAS and speaker of Section D of the Leibniz Association, Dipl.-Ing Marcus Fissan, Partner at Henn Architects, and the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt (Oder), René Wilke, all expressed their congratulations on the completion of the project.

Minister Dr. Manja Schüle emphasized: “Environmental degradation, lack of resources, climate change - as soon as we have defeated the corona pandemic and the virus, our list of societal challenges will remain long. Fortunately, there is the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics in the state of Brandenburg. This is where the foundations for our future are being laid: Smart systems, intelligent technologies and new materials for micro- and nanotechnologies are researched at the IHP - for the energy transition, innovative traffic concepts or intelligent medical prevention. Therefore, together with the federal government and the EU, we have invested 15 million euros in the extension of the clean room. This creates space for new ideas. Because: The IHP stands for the future ‘Made in Brandenburg‘."

Prof. Dr. Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economics, Labor and Energy of the State of Brandenburg was impressed and congratulated the IHP on the outstanding project. The importance of the clean room extension for the "Research Factory Microelectronics Germany - FMD" was emphasized in the speech by Prof. Dr. Christoph Kutter,, director of the Fraunhofer Institute EMFT and deputy speaker for the FMD.

“The realization of a building of such complexity in such a short time while maintaining continuous operation of the qualified pilot line was a great challenge, which we successfully mastered with great dedication. The completed extension enables the IHP to continue to set technological standards in the future. The extension is an investment in the future and an important contribution to the development of microelectronics in Germany ”, said Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kahmen, scientific and technical director of the IHP.

The extension of the clean room area to the size of 1500 square meters, on one hand, enables the IHP to provide scientific and research partners with a stable BiCMOS technology platform and, on the other hand, to research the possibilities of new materials. The goal is to be able to set records such as the world’s fastest silicon-germanium transistor in the future as well. The new metallization system, which has already been purchased within the framework of the Research Factory Microelectronics Germany, is the basis for the planned exploratory clean room in the newly built part of the building and should enable future work with new, high-performance contact materials.

In addition, the space gained is being used for the continuous modernization of the ultra-modern pilot line, which operates on a 24/7 basis to prototype the integrated circuits of the future.