German federal government and Bavaria commit support to ams OSRAM for groundbreaking semiconductor technology
ams OSRAM (Premstätten, Austria), a global leader in intelligent sensors and emitters, received notice of substantial public funding by the German federal government (i.e. the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action) and the Free State of Bavaria. The funding is intended to boost the further development of semiconductor technology. The envisaged IPCEI funding (Important Project of Common European Interest) will support ams OSRAM in making its own investments in the research and development of innovative optoelectronic components at its Regensburg location.
ams OSRAM is striving to strengthen its development and manufacturing location in Regensburg for future investments. At an event at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on September 18, 2023, the company presented its project launched within the scope of the IPCEI ME/CT (Microelectronics and Communication Technologies). With the envisaged public funding, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) emphasises that this project is of European significance – and supports the related investments in cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.
The application for public subsidies of more than €300M are subject to the official notice of the grant. The amount will be mainly invested in activities for the research and development of innovative optoelectronic semiconductors and their manufacturing processes, thus creating 400 new high-tech jobs. In addition, ams OSRAM will invest in new clean room and laboratory facilities for research, development and pilot production – perfectly equipped for working on various innovative applications (e.g. UV-C LEDs for disinfection and near-infrared emitters for LiDAR for autonomous driving), as well as on fields of application in the context of Industry 4.0. Another special focus will be microLEDs for use in an all-new type of display. Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) generally play a major role in Regensburg, enabling ams OSRAM to break new ground at its production facilities. The construction of the first pilot assembly line for 8” wafer production is currently underway in order to launch the cost-efficient large-scale production of highly innovative microLEDs in the very near future.
“By expanding our development activities in the field of optoelectronic semiconductors, we can create room for innovation and accelerate the time to market for our products,” emphasises Aldo Kamper, CEO of ams OSRAM. “At the same time, our investment is a clear commitment to Regensburg as an industrial hub, Bavaria as a high-tech location, and Europe as a hotbed of innovation. High tech light from Regensburg belongs to the city like St. Peter’s Cathedral and the Old Stone Bridge. Here we create new, energy-efficient products and production processes to drive digitalisation and thus support the European Green Deal and the autonomy of Europe in the field of semiconductors. In line with our future-oriented “Re-Establish the Base” programme, we will continue to build on ams OSRAM’s market-leading core competency and shape the future of the semiconductor market from this Bavarian city.”
Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, stresses: “ams OSRAM stands for high tech made in Regensburg. As the Bavarian state government, we deliberately participate in the financing of this IPCEI project. This is fully in line with our intention to further expand Bavaria as a top international location for the semiconductor industry. Every euro is well invested and will create new jobs in a highly innovative environment.”
ams OSRAM has already been developing high-quality semiconductors “made in Regensburg” for 50 years. 2700 highly qualified employees currently work at the location. Also, thanks to IPCEI subsidies granted several years ago, Regensburg is today the most important research and production site for optoelectronic semiconductors in Europe – and ams OSRAM ranks number two worldwide in the optoelectronic semiconductor market. In the last few years, ams OSRAM has continuously expanded its research, development and production capacities and launched significant optoelectronic semiconductor innovations on the market. To mention just two of many success stories: Multi-pixel headlights for vehicles as well as the first generation of UV-C LEDs for disinfection were launched on the market. Based on the research projects, ams OSRAM has thus been able to create 500 new jobs in research, development and production by 2022.
Caption: The German federal government and the Free State of Bavaria intend to provide IPCEI funding to drive next-generation optoelectronic semiconductor technologies from ams OSRAM in Regensburg (photo: ams OSRAM)