Further miniaturization and greater integration are driving the relevant trends in electronics. Thanks to the successful development of EUV lithography, Moore's Law continues to be valid – with even smaller structures. To implement and evaluate this technology, the experts of Fraunhofer ILT are developing the necessary beam sources and the corresponding measuring technology.
Not only is generating structures on a nanometer scale important, but the assembly and connection technology for high-performance electronic components also plays a decisive role in this sector. Fraunhofer ILT is able to meet the increasing demands – for higher integration density and higher operating temperatures, combined with greater robustness – by employing new interconnection technologies used in the backend as well as in the power sector of electronic components. This applies in particular to e-mobility, in which high current carrying capacity is coupled with small installation space. Together with industrial partners, Fraunhofer ILT is developing new bonding techniques for battery contacts and IGBT power components, which will be integrated into high-performance manufacturing systems.
Other competencies of Fraunhofer ILT include the structuring and functionalization of surfaces as well as 3D volume structuring. For example, selective laser etching allows microscopic structures to be incorporated into glass or sapphire substrates to generate microfluidic systems for biochemical analysis.