From Research to Application: Projects at Fraunhofer EMFT

The APECS pilot line aims to be Europe’s leading platform for advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration, driving next-generation integrated systems.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in Europe - with more than 6 million new cases every year within the EU. Reliable monitoring systems that detect intermittent abnormalities and recognize critical cardiac behaviors would be an effective means of preventing the feared sudden cardiac death. The goal of the EU SmartVista (Smart Autonomous Multi Modal Sensors for Vital Signs Monitoring) project is to develop and demonstrate a next-generation, low-cost, intelligent multi-modal sensor platform to reduce the incidence of sudden death from cardiovascular disease.

How can supply chains for the chip industry become more independent and better protected? The coronavirus pandemic in particular has highlighted the problems for Germany and Europe. In the "Semiconductor-X" research project on the digitalization of supply chains in the semiconductor industry, Fraunhofer EMFT is working with over 20 partners to make supply chains more sustainable and resilient and to promote decentralized, sovereign data exchange.

The strategic importance of semiconductors and Europe's dependence on other regions of the world is clearly evidenced by the recent international crises. In the EU project ICOS, European research organizations are jointly working with industry to build up know-how and networks to support Europe in regaining its sovereignty and leadership in this field, in accordance with the objectives of the EU Chips Act.

Approximately 80 % of the CO2 footprint of average electronic components is created already during their production. A Fraunhofer EMFT research team is working on optimizing semiconductor manufacturing processes in order to minimize the use of climate-damaging process gases. In this context, the scientists are also testing more climate-friendly alternatives to etching gases used as standard today.

With the foundation of Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) in 2022, seven leading research institutions in Bavaria, including the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, have committed themselves to an ambitious goal: Building the first German quantum computer with up to 1000 qubits “made in Bavaria”. The partners are working on realizing full-stack quantum-computer demonstrators, remotely accessible to researchers and industry. Within this framework, Fraunhofer EMFT researchers are contributing their engineering expertise to enable scaling and industrialization of the qubit platform based on superconducting qubits.

28 European research partners aim at designing, building and operating a quantum processor of up to 1000 qubits in Europe. As part of the project, Fraunhofer EMFT is providing the development of new fabrication processes for qubit chips, which will facilitate chip manufacturing on an industrial scale for commercial use in the future.

Diabetes types that require regular insulin treatment are highly dependent on the patient's ability to constantly track their blood glucose levels and self-administer insulin accordingly. This not only causes a major inconvenience in everyday life, but also involves the risk of hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia. In addition, a blood sugar deficiency can only be predicted inadequately in certain situations. Together with five European partners, researchers at the Fraunhofer EMFT are developing an implantable measuring and dosing system. It is capable of monitoring all relevant key metabolic parameters on a situation-specific basis and adjusting the insulin dosage accordingly.

In patient surveys on insulin dosing, patch pumps score significantly better than conventional insulin injections in terms of comfort and user-friendliness. They are easy to use, comfortable to wear, and do not need to be removed for sports, showering, etc. For safe and comfortable handling, it is essential that the patch pump doses the insulin precisely and evenly. The micropumps developed at Fraunhofer EMFT achieve dosing deviations of less than 4% even with the smallest volumes. Researchers at the institute were able to verify this in a study.

Even in today's innovative, miniaturized electronic products, traditional wiring is still prevalent. The problem: manual wiring can account for up to 80% of product costs and also has an impact on reliability, production yield, weight and resource consumption. Last but not least, it limits the possibilities for further miniaturization. In the HyPerStripes project, researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are working with 16 partners from three European countries on a promising alternative: long, flexible electronic systems (“hyperstripes”) to replace conventional cables and printed circuit boards.