Louvain (Belgium), March 13, 2024.- The Government of Spain, through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, the Junta de Andalucía and IMEC, world leader in research and development of nanoelectronics and digital technologies, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ratifying their intention to establish a pilot line of specialized technologies for the manufacture of advanced chips in Malaga.

This new innovation facility will complement the one IMEC has in Leuven (Belgium), focusing on the silicon research line (around complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology, CMOS). The new installation of Málaga will have the objective of developing new prototyping processes of 300mm chips in new materials, alternative to silicon, which are currently complicated to combine with CMOS processes. This new fab, aims to respond to the new research and development needs of new prototypes to be at the forefront of the technological processes that will develop over the next decade, in fields such as medicine, photonics, quantum technologies or augmented reality.

In this way, this new installation of 300 mm wafers, will allow to discover new chips and new applications in fields such as health, biology, photonics, augmented and virtual reality or precision engineering. Supplementing the existing infrastructure and expertise at the Louvain plant with these non-standardized processes that are currently incompatible with semiconductor production, makes the two centres in Louvain and Malaga work in a coordinated manner.

Now, a new phase is starting with the objective of establishing a robust public-private collaboration model between IMEC, the Government of Spain and the Junta de Andalucía. The two governments have already agreed to finance the construction of the new facility, including infrastructure and equipment. They have also formulated the intention to finance the centre in a sustainable, medium- and long-term manner, to boost the benefits of the growing semiconductor ecosystem. IMEC will manage the FAB’s operations, providing the necessary know-how and technology, and ensuring access to its global network of academic and industrial partners.

The MoU underlines the parties’ intention to collaborate on a pan-European scale to boost Spain’s semiconductor ecosystem leveraged on local strengths, the existing advantages in cross-border expertise and the capabilities to address the challenges of global society as well as strengthen the regional economy. With the establishment of this new center, intimately connected with the one that IMEC has in Leuven for the development of semiconductors of 300mm, the objective is to take advantage of the existing innovation capacity in Spain and Andalusia. Other details of this operation, such as procurement forecasts, cannot be confirmed until the negotiation process is completed.