Recently, the European Commission (EC) announced that it will invest 20 million euros in the next generation of electronics and semiconductors. As the first graphene foundry that integrates graphene and layered materials into a semiconductor platform, the 2D experimental pilot line (2D-epl) was officially launched. The new project aims to keep Europe at the forefront of this technological revolution.
2D-EPL was born in the graphene flagship project funded by the European Union, and it will cover the entire value chain, from tool manufacturers, chemical and material suppliers to production lines. The collaborative project will integrate several flagship graphene members to create a process of manufacturing new prototype electronic devices, photonic devices and sensors that integrate graphene and layered materials.
2D-EPL will provide companies, research centers and scholars with comprehensive prototyping services to develop and test their innovative technologies based on 2D materials.
“By developing a European pilot production line for processing graphene and layered materials, we aim to introduce these innovative materials from academic laboratories into semiconductor production lines to make them compatible with industry standards,” explained Cedric Huyghebaert, technical director. Responsible for the 2D-EPL project and as the project manager of exploratory materials and module integration at imec, Belgium.
"In addition, we hope to provide the innovative graphene community in Europe with the opportunity to conduct an experimental trial production line early. The trial production line will enable them to expand the production of innovative equipment based on graphene and layered materials."
Combining graphene and 2D materials with silicon can enhance the potential of traditional silicon-based electronic technologies. However, large-scale integration of the two materials has always been a challenge, and so far, progress has been slow due to lack of infrastructure. 2D-EPL will solve this challenge and enable manufacturers to control the interface between silicon semiconductors and 2D materials on a large scale.
The goal of 2D-EPL is to develop the tools, chemistry and materials required to integrate graphene with layered materials on established semiconductor platforms using silicon technology. The ecosystem and procedures will be validated in the most advanced clean room environment in Europe, such as AMO and iHP in Germany; VTT in Finland; and imec in Belgium.
In subsequent phases, the project will also develop modules to manufacture basic building blocks for graphene and layered materials-based technologies in the fields of optoelectronics, photonics, and electronics. These modules will be made publicly available to European users through multi-purpose wafers. This strategy will ensure that these novel technologies are widely available and accessible at a reasonable cost.
The ultimate goal of 2D-EPL is to work closely with European leading graphene flagship partners including European small and medium-sized enterprises, industrial companies, academic partners, and research institutions to build demonstrators and realize small batch production of innovative graphene and traditional Layered material-based technology for semiconductor integration.
"In many applications, in order for products to be put on the market, it is necessary to integrate graphene with potential other 2D materials at the wafer level," explained Yeelei Ye, a developer of electronic applications business at the Graphene flagship company. "2D-EPL will accelerate the manufacturing of new prototypes of electronics, photonics and optoelectronics using integrated graphene and layered materials."
"2D-EPL really highlights how the European Commission can have an impact on research, development and industry in Europe through projects such as the Graphene Flagship Project," said Jari Kinaret, Director of the Graphene Flagship Project. "We found a challenge-to expand the production of graphene electronic products-the European Commission listened to our views and sought funding to meet this challenge.