EU Funds Sustainable Microelectronics Project to Boost Self-Sufficiency

EU Funds Sustainable Microelectronics Project to Boost Self-Sufficiency
by Robert Schreiber
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 11, 2024
Manufacturers in the European Union rely heavily on external sources for microelectronic devices and raw materials, leading to vulnerabilities in material availability. To enhance high-tech development within the EU and increase industry self-sufficiency, the EU's OBELIX project aims to design innovative technologies based on new concepts. Over the next four years, the European Innovation Council (EIC) will fund OBELIX through its Pathfinder program with approximately EUR 3.9 million. "We are collaborating with renowned institutions in France and Sweden as well as with Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) on the development of economical, environmentally friendly microelectronic technologies. This field will be central to our research in the coming years," stated Professor Mathias Klaui of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).

New Technologies for Sustainable Microelectronics

The OBELIX project, an acronym for "Orbital Engineering for Innovative Electronics," will be coordinated by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and run until 2028. The project's main aim is to develop new technologies that are sustainable and resilient to supply chain interruptions, while also reducing the ecological footprint of the microelectronics sector. "We intend to create particularly efficient magnetic switching, for instance in memory devices by exploiting the new options offered by orbital angular momentum, the motion of particles through space," added Mathias Klaui. Current techniques use the intrinsic angular momentum of particles, known as their spin. The new technique aims to increase efficiency tenfold by reducing energy consumption by a factor of ten or enabling switching at a rate ten times higher at the same energy use. "Secondly, we'll be focusing on systems that require fewer rarer materials," continued Klaui. This involves reducing reliance on rare earth elements, which are scarce and primarily sourced from China or Russia. "We intend to generate orbital angular momentum using matter that is neither rare nor harmful to the environment." Klaui cites copper-based compounds as examples.

EIC Pathfinder Support for Innovative Technologies

The EIC Pathfinder program identifies radically new technologies with the potential to create new markets. Grants are awarded to speculative projects in early development stages with demonstrated promise of technological advancement. Participants in an EIC Pathfinder-supported project are typically visionary specialists and researchers from universities, research institutes, start-ups, high-tech SMEs, and industry professionals interested in technological innovations.

Other OBELIX partners include CNRS, JGU, MLU, CNRS Innovation, Aix-Marseille University, Uppsala University, Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives in France, and the French companies Imagine Optic and Thales.