Following the arrival of TSMC and the new Infineon factory, the wave of investment in Saxony's microelectronics sector continues: Globalfoundries is now also planning to expand its Dresden plant to the tune of billions, while FMC is planning a memory chip fab.
Globalfoundries expands chip factory in Dresden
The US microelectronics contract manufacturer Globalfoundries (GF) is expanding its Dresden chip factory. This was confirmed by GF's German Communications Director Jens Drews in response to our inquiry. He did not yet want to provide exact information on the sums and construction plans: "We will announce more details in the coming weeks."
However, it is likely to be an investment worth billions, with which the company intends to expand its capacities as well as its production specialties. This is not just about a factory extension and more facilities for chip production, but probably also about qualitatively new production options. In addition to mass production for large industrial customers, GF Dresden has recently also made a name for itself as a universal producer of small batches of innovative semiconductor solutions for Saxony's high-tech SMEs and research institutes. The Dresden GF chipmakers therefore increasingly see themselves as 'enablers' of innovation.
This investment therefore also fits in quite well with the 'European Chip Act'. This explicitly allows special grants for particularly innovative projects, of which there are hardly any examples in the EU. The company had therefore already applied for chip law subsidies in advance for the planned expansion. In previous Chip Act projects by other companies, the federal and state governments recently provided between 20% and 50% of the total amount from taxpayers' money. This means that GF is probably hoping for subsidies of somewhere between €200 and €600 million, of which the federal government would then finance 70% and the Free State of Saxony 30%.
In the meantime, there has apparently already been a preliminary commitment from the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWE) in Berlin: "Globalfoundries Dresden has started the realization of its European Chips Act project in Dresden on the basis of a preliminary start of measures by the BMWE," explained Drews. This means that although the Bundestag, state parliament and the EU still have to give their approval, the commitment is considered secure enough for GF to start with construction preparations and initial machine orders.
Factory for ferroelectric AI memory chips planned
The Dresden-based semiconductor company Ferroelectric Memory (FMC) is planning to build a large chip factory and has already applied for funding. FMC confirmed this in principle when asked by PLUS. In the fab, the company wants to produce innovative memory circuits that remember data even without a constant power supply and are particularly fast. These chips are also 'adaptive', making them suitable for the construction of artificial neurons for neurocomputers and AI computers. FMC is still holding back on details. But it could be an investment worth billions - Magdeburg is the location of choice.
FMC is working on "how a secure supply of these system-critical memory chips to industry can be implemented", the company said when asked. "We have applied for funding in this context. One option is to establish a production site in Germany."
The background to FMC's plans: In the years before the demise of the last major German memory chip manufacturer - Infineon subsidiary Qimonda - a doctoral student submitted a concept for innovative ferroelectric memory chips. The idea was to combine the advantages of two established circuits: so-called dRAMs store and deliver data very quickly, but require a power supply the whole time. Flash chips, on the other hand, which store apps and photos in today's smartphones, for example, only require short energy peaks for writing and reading data, but manage without power in between - although they are comparatively slow. The alternative is ferroelectric memories: they are very fast and require very little energy. If they were installed en masse in smartphones instead of conventional chips, their battery life and operating speed could be greatly improved.
The company already hints at where the capital will come from in its response to our inquiry: "FMC is backed by international investors, the automotive supplier Bosch and the Korean memory chip company SK Hynix, among others." And the other part is to be paid by the state: Referring to the special importance of FMC technology for Europe's microelectronics, the company could receive special subsidies from the federal government and the Free State of Saxony.
Where Saxony's army once stored grenades and the GDR later built turbines, FMC, an electronics company for ferroelectric memory chips, was founded in Dresden
Chip factory in Dresden expanded
The semiconductor company X-Fab has expanded its Dresden chip factory at a cost of around 40 million. As a result, production capacity there has increased by a tenth to over 11,000 silicon wafers per month. This was confirmed by site manager Michael Woittennek on request: "The latest expansion stage has now been completed." The contract manufacturer now employs around 550 people in the Saxon state capital.
The company expects demand for the chips from Dresden to continue to rise and intends to invest further here. In addition to the production lines for classic circuits, X-Fab is building new systems in the Saxon state capital that will enable power electronics made of gallium nitride on silicon wafers.
In general, X-Fab as a group and the factory in Dresden play in a different league to top international foundries such as TSMC, UMC, Globalfoundries and Samsung: having emerged from the remnants of the GDR microelectronics combine in Erfurt, the company is now in Belgian hands and employs around 4,500 people at six locations worldwide. The Dresden site emerged from the GDR microelectronics forge ZMD, which sold its factory in Dresden to X-Fab after several changes of ownership following reunification. "We also expect demand from the automotive sector to continue to rise," emphasizes Woittennek. Although the German automotive industry is currently in crisis, the trend towards automatic and electric driving and more and more on-board electronics in cars is ensuring a steady increase in demand. In addition, an ageing society is generating great demand for modern medical technology, such as chip-based microlabs that enable GPs to make faster diagnoses. "We also supply many small and medium-sized companies," says Woittennek. "This also sets us apart from industry giants such as TSMC."
Chip factory planner opens Dresden branch
The surrounding industry, suppliers and other players in 'Silicon Saxony' are also back in investment mode. For example, the chip factory construction company Exyte, formerly known as 'Meissner und Wurst', is once again opening its own fully-fledged branch in the Dresden area. The Stuttgart-based company is thus responding to the semiconductor boom in Saxony.
"Strengthening our presence in Silicon Saxony is an important step for Exyte's semiconductor business in Germany and underlines our commitment to regional innovation," emphasizes Exyte CEO Wolfgang Büchele. "We are proud to create high-quality engineering jobs in Dresden and plan to further expand our presence in the region."
M+W alias Exyte has been represented in Dresden since the post-reunification period, primarily by engineers, technicians and specialists on the chip factory construction sites. M+W had already founded a subsidiary in Dresden in 2011. After the Qimonda bankruptcy and chip crisis, fewer new fabs were built in the Dresden area for a while, which meant there was also less for the Swabians (Exyte) to do in Saxony. During this time, "the music" in international microelectronics was playing more in Taiwan and South Korea anyway, where chip factory construction costs and construction times are much lower than in the West.
The latest investments by Infineon, TSMC, Jenoptik, X-Fab and other companies in "Silicon Saxony" have once again resulted in more orders for suppliers and equipment manufacturers. As a result, own branches such as Exyte's in Dresden are now more profitable than before. In this respect, the new Exyte branch can certainly be counted as one of the knock-on effects of the TSMC relocation.
Fraunhofer opens chip test center in Chemnitz
The nanosystems institute "Enas" has opened a new chip test center in Chemnitz. In the "European Test and Reliability Center" (ETRC), Fraunhofer engineers want to test their own research circuits and measure their reliability. On the other hand, the multi-million euro center is intended to close value creation gaps for microelectronics in Saxony and throughout Europe. "With the ETRC, we are sending out a strong signal for Europe's claim to combine technological excellence with tested quality and reliability," emphasizes Enas CEO Prof. Harald Kuhn. He sees this as a "change in the innovation process" towards "networked, accelerated thinking in cycles". And: "I am convinced that the ETRC will provide decisive impetus for Europe's technological sovereignty and competitiveness."
The Chemnitz-based team is placing a particular focus on chips in which Europe is currently building up or already maintaining leading positions: power semiconductors made of silicon carbide and gallium nitride, microsystems with integrated sensors and optical components and photonic circuits, for example. However, the Fraunhofer engineers in Saxony have also started a race to catch up in 'chiplet' technology: It is true that international industry leaders such as TSMC have an almost unassailable lead in this type of 'chiplet' when it comes to high-performance combination circuits with structure widths of less than ten nanometers. However, the Europeans definitely see market opportunities for themselves in the combination of logic and memory with optical and sensor components - a kind of nano-memes, so to speak.
Engineer Kerstin Kreyßig carries out reliability tests on electronic components, modules and systems at Fraunhofer Enas in order to determine their expected service life and useful life today
New Sachsenkälte factory opens
And close to the emerging TSMC chip factory in the north of Dresden, Sachsenkälte has now officially opened its new factory for special air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The Dresden-based company designs and produces equipment for microelectronics and other industries in the new building, which cost around €10 million.
"Sachsenkälte is a good example of how craftsmanship and high technology can go together," praised Managing Director Andreas Brzezinski from the Chamber of Crafts. In addition, the team of engineers, refrigeration technicians and other specialists proves time and again the extent to which regional craftsmanship makes modern semiconductor factories with their special climatic production conditions possible in the first place.
For some time now, Sachsenkälte has been focusing in particular on alternatives to conventional refrigerants, on comparatively environmentally friendly refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The new 4,500 m² building has now given the company more space to focus on this area. Another reason for the investment in Richard-Riemerschmid-Straße was the special requirements of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry, which is now also present in the microelectronics location 'Silicon Saxony' with the joint ESMC plant of TSMC, Bosch, Infineon and NXP.
View of the new Sachsenkälte plant near the TSMC fab
Economic promoter: TSMC's magnetic force is already having an effect
In general, the magnetic force of the new large-scale chip factory of TSMC, Bosch, Infineon and NXP in Dresden is already having an effect, even before their joint venture ESMC has produced the first circuit: "The establishment of the first service providers and suppliers around ESMC already makes the strong attraction of the new chip factory clear," estimates Saxony's Economic Development Corporation (WFS). According to WFS boss Thomas Horn, the latest investment decisions are strengthening the microelectronics sector in the Free State. "We expect a significant boost for the Silicon Saxony region in the coming years."
Sources
Globalfoundries, BWME, Fraunhofer-Enas, Exyte, FMC, HWK Dresden, Sachsenkälte
