€55m project to boost sustainable semiconductor manufacturing in Europe
58 companies and research organisations across Europe have come together in a €55m programme to boost the sustainability of producing semiconductor devices.
From energy and water use to the gases and resists, the Genesis programme is aiming to make chip production more sustainable, not just in Europe but globally.
However is Europe just lagging behind and looking to put up regulatory barriers even as it wants to encourage chip makers to set up in the region?
“Genesis is addressing the full manufacturing scheme from the materials to the end result,” Lauren Pain, the coordinator at CEA-Leti in Grenoble tells eeNews Europe.
“I prefer to look at the environmental impact because when you are talking about sustainability there are always side effects. Of course we are addressing Scope 1, the direct emissions, but we also want to minimise the waste to optimise the use of the materials and introduce reuse and recycling of valuable materials.”
The consortium includes chip makers STMicroelectronics, Bosch, GlobalFoundries, Intel, Infineon and IBM and NXP Semiconductor and even Leonardo in Italy, which as a laser chip fab outside Tucson, Arizona.
The programme includes deploying sensor-integrated abatement systems to reduce PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions.
There are many aspects to the sustainability of chip making, and the programme has four main workstreams, from developing sensors to analysing results. This will deliver 45 outcomes across the semiconductor lifecycle over the next three years:
- Monitoring & Sensing, led by CSEM: Real-time emissions tracking, traceability, and process feedback systems,
- New Materials. led by imec: Finding PFAS-free chemistries and low-GWP alternatives for advanced semiconductor processes,
- Waste Minimization, led by Fraunhofer: Innovations in recycling (solvent, gas, slurries), reuse and sustainable replacements
- Critical Raw Materials Mitigation, led by the University of Torino: Strategies to reduce dependency on materials and strengthen resource security.
“As chips become the backbone of everything from AI to energy systems, their environmental footprint is rapidly growing,” said Anton Chichkov, head of programs at Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) which along with Horizon Europe and member states in fuding the scheme. “Genesis responds to this urgent challenge by pioneering sustainable alternatives in materials, waste reduction, and resource efficiency. Through this initiative, Europe is not only investing in cleaner technologies—it’s positioning itself as a global leader in green semiconductor manufacturing.”
Pain agrees this is an issue that impact fabs around the world as it is driven by customer requirements.
“Each region has its own specific requirements but the end customers are pushing them to be more and more sustainable wherever the chip is manufactured, they will have to manage the water, be carbon neutral, to eliminate PFAS chemicals,” he said.
“We have two ways to push the introduction of sustainability. The first way is regulation, and that is different in the US and Asia but whatever we do I anticipate the regulations will be stronger year after year as climate change is going int the wrong direction and we will have to face it, and we will have to be more aggressive in focussing on emissions and resource management
“We also have some very big companies that are also pushing from the top to be exemplars in designing the final product and they are pushing the semiconductor industry to be better, pushing their scope one to zero so there is a strong push from those companies.”
“So the semiconductor industry is in the middle of these two factors and we have to act.”
“With the push from the top and the bottom, things need to change as we need to improve the fab efficiency and find new ways to manage the fab and the waste. Any time there is a fab upgrade or a technology upgrade you are thinking more and more about sustainability. Even if the cost is more expensive the trend is to think about how we do it better.”
Is this too little too late?
“This trend may be too slow but what is good that we do not consider sustainability as an additional constraint, it’s now a natural layer for these companies,” he said. “The real question is are we going faster and is it enough to really address the climate emergency we are facing? There is some progress but we need programmes like Genesis and other programmes to speed up the introduction of innovations into the fab.”
Global trade organisation SEMI is one of the partners in the consortium and has had a sustainability group for the last two years.
“Starting a European programme is a long story as you convince the authorities, and we submitted the first stage in May 2024, then the second stage in September
“It’s not hard to convince industry and we have the main leaders of the European industry but it’s the way we want to structure ethe programme and avoid overlap and be as efficient as we can
Monitoring is a key part of the programme. “If you want to understand and manage waste we need more and more accurate sensors as the chain becomes more efficient and this is a core part of the innovation, its one third of the innovation we are developing,” he said.
“It was really important to have this huge level of monitoring. We start with sensors from the lab at TRL levels 2 to 4 and then at TRL 6 to 7 at the end of three years these will be ready to be implemented in the fab and we will use pilot lines like Leti or imec to test the sensors and this should help to speed up the insertion of the sensors into industry.
However there may be a missed opportunity in developing AI models based on the data gathered over the next three years at the pilot lines.
“We do not integrate AI analysis in Genesis,” said Pain. “Based on the sensors we generate the data analytics that can be used by the programme or the partners or to drive more efficiency for the fab.
“We already have a programme to collect global data analytics on waste to give a full catalogue of the waste that is generated and using this we can feed partners to have a clear understanding of the abatement strategy we have to deploy.”
“We are also looking at lower cost sensors on the line and drive the sensors together to extract the species we have to monitor. The aim is to have In line solutions and that is tricky.
The aim is to have 30% new materials to replace the gases and solvents used in the for lithography and packaging processes, looking at the treatment of the waste chemicals, reusing , reuse gases such as the hydrogen in metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), and the solvents that are used for stripping away layers in polishing.
The last part is waste minimisation to collect and recover gallium and niobium for geopolitical reasons. Today there is no recycling for niobium, which will have to be developed as part of the programme.
“For example we will look at the grade of gold used in packaging, At the moment we use high purity at the front end but in the back end if we can work with a lower grade, that could be really interesting to minimise the global impact. So we are addressing the full landscape
“We have two milestones – first to evaluate the maturing of the sensor technology and then we can immediately implement them in a pilot line to test, and the aim is for the end of the project to be implemented in a fab.
“What is really important is an external advisory board that will help us to always position and challenge the roadmap from the regulatory point of view to make sure we are heading in the right direction and if we can speed up.”
Leti signs Applied Materials deal
This comes as CEA-Leti signed the next phase of their longstanding collaboration with US equipment maker Applied Materials which is also part of the Genesis programme. Through an expansion of their joint lab, the organizations plan to develop materials engineering solutions to address emerging infrastructure challenges in AI data centres.
The joint lab is focused on device innovations for chipmakers serving ICAPS markets (IoT, Communications, Automotive, Power and Sensors) and under the new agreement, Applied and CEA-Leti will expand the lab with new equipment and capabilities that move beyond individual process steps to include full-flow development of specialty devices.
The lab will also be equipped with state-of-the-art advanced packaging tools to support heterogeneous integration of chips across different wafer types and process nodes to develop entirely new classes of specialty devices.
The joint facility features several Applied Materials wafer processing systems together with CEA-Leti’s materials and device validation.
“Applied Materials and CEA-Leti have a long history of successful collaboration, and we are excited to strengthen our capabilities for accelerating innovation and commercialization of next-generation specialty chips,” said Aninda Moitra, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials’ ICAPS business. “Our combined expertise will help foster breakthroughs and push the boundaries of semiconductor innovation, contributing to sustainable advancements in a range of critical applications for the AI era.”
“Building on this momentum, the joint lab’s new focus on energy-efficient solutions for AI data-centre infrastructure reflects our shared commitment to making technological progress that meets both industrial and societal needs. The extended partnership also leverages our complementary strengths to accelerate innovation at the system level, while supporting sustainable growth in France’s semiconductor ecosystem,” he siad.
Semiconductor skills academy
Semiconductor skills are also key to sustainable chip production, and the FAMES pilot line for low power FD-SOI technology is launching a training academy.
“The FAMES Academy is a cornerstone of our mission to equip Europe’s microelectronics community with the skills needed to leverage FD-SOI technology and design circuits using advanced setups,” said Laurent Fesquet, FAMES Academy project manager and deputy director of the TIMA Laboratory lab in Grenoble, part of CNRS. “Through recruitment and targeted training, we’re preparing the engineers and technicians who will shape the future of Europe’s semiconductor design and integration,” he said.
The FAMES Academy will be focused on three critical objectives:
- Supporting the transfer of competencies to European industry to exploit next-generation semiconductor technologies.
- Attracting scientists and engineers into the EU microelectronics workforce to reinforce technological sovereignty.
- Equipping engineers and researchers with the expertise required to design and characterize advanced semiconductor nodes.
“Over the next four years, the academy will develop and present a range of workshops and interactive sessions to support and expand Europe’s semiconductor community with expertise and empower its industrial and academic communities with the tools and training needed to succeed in this critical, rapidly evolving field,” said Dominique Noguet, the FAMES Pilot Line coordinator.
www.leti-cea.com; www.genesiseu.eu; fames-pilot-line.eu/
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