LEUVEN (Belgium), May 16, 2024 — EUROPRACTICE technology offer extends with fabrication processes of Graphenea, a world-leading graphene producer headquartered in San Sebastian, Spain. Within the EUROPRACTICE platform, imec will be the partner providing EUROPRACTICE customers access to Graphenea’s technologies and technical support.
EUROPRACTICE customers can now design and fabricate graphene devices using the services of Graphenea Foundry. Graphenea specialises in biosensing, optoelectronic and photonic applications. The foundry offers three process flows, each with different metal and coating methods, resulting in three device architectures. This versatility enables the creation of multiple device designs, opening up a myriad of possibilities for applications in sensing and optoelectronics.
Imec, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, will function as a service centre for Graphenea technologies within EUROPRACTICE, providing customer support and offering access to the three process flows:
Process Flow 1 enables the manufacturing of general-purpose devices, allowing for the application of a global gate voltage and addressing a wide range of applications, including magnetic sensing, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sensing, and gas sensing, to name a few.
Process Flow 2 is tailored for liquid sample measurements, offering features particularly suited for biosensing and liquid biopsies. The passivated contacts prevent large leakage currents and device degradation upon contact with the liquid analyte, enabling measurements in saline solutions, as well as biological fluids like blood, plasma, saliva, and sweat.
Process Flow 3 focuses on the implementation of High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) devices, allowing for individual gating and charge modulation, which dramatically increases the versatility and complexity of graphene-based devices and circuits. Different flavours within this process flow can be used to target various applications in optoelectronics and photonics, such as fabrication of pixelated structures for photodetector arrays.
“We are delighted to have Graphenea joining the EUROPRACTICE technology portfolio. Graphenea’s dedication to providing high-quality, affordable, and reliable graphene matches our vision to enable European researchers and companies with innovative technologies. This partnership is an important step in increasing the availability of advanced graphene materials, creating a vibrant space for innovative research and developments,” says Dr Maria Martinez Valado, Program Manager at imec.
“The Graphenea team is very excited to join the EUROPRACTICE service and expand our reach. We think this partnership will benefit not only the 2D but the microelectronics community as a whole. It speaks greatly about the strength and maturity of our manufacturing processes, which have been rolled out for several years already. We think this service is a key step forward: The possibility of having a reliable platform that can be used as a testbed to fabricate graphene-based technologies in established Process Flows, at prices which very much lower the entry barrier for this technology, will propel the development of graphene-based applications and technologies. We are looking forward to engaging with the EUROPRACTICE team and offering our solutions to their users,” elaborates Dr. Elias Torres Alonso, Graphenea’s Head of Foundry and Process Yield.
About Graphenea
Graphenea is a graphene supplier who has accumulated over 10 years of experience in graphene materials and technologies. Graphenea has developed a variety of manufacturing processes and proprietary technologies that enabled us to become a world leader in graphene-based materials and devices, while distributing graphene to many research groups within European research projects, as well as being one of the founding members of the Graphene Flagship. Graphenea runs 100mm and 150mm wafer lines, with a manufacturing capability for the fabrication of graphene-based devices for prototyping, development, scale up and technology validation. Our fabrication methods benefit from decades of development in the semiconductor industry; many of these large volume manufacturing processes are readily compatible and directly transferrable to graphene-based devices; we aim for a seamless integration with other microelectronic technologies such as CMOS, for example, to push further the limits of current electronics and reach places the technology can’t reach nowadays.
About EUROPRACTICE
EUROPRACTICE is a consortium of research organisations that provides European industry and academia with a platform to develop electronic circuits and systems. For nearly 30 years, the consortium has offered affordable access to prototyping and volume production services in a wide range of technologies, including ASICs, MEMS, Photonics, Flexible Electronics, Compound Semiconductors, and more. For future generations of engineers, EUROPRACTICE has provided design tools and a broad training offer ensuring the growing digital economy in Europe. The consortium consists of five partners, namely imec (Belgium), UKRI-STFC (UK), Fraunhofer IIS (Germany), CIME-P from Grenoble INP (France) and Tyndall National Institute (Ireland). Over the years, EUROPRACTICE has been supported by the European Commission, which allowed expansion into new markets and continuation of the high-quality service to more than 600 academic institutions and over 300 SMEs.
About imec
Imec is a world-leading research and innovation center in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec leverages its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure and its team of more than 5,500 employees and top researchers, for R&D in advanced semiconductor and system scaling, silicon photonics, artificial intelligence, beyond 5G communications and sensing technologies, and in application domains such as health and life sciences, mobility, industry 4.0, agrofood, smart cities, sustainable energy, education, … Imec unites world-industry leaders across the semiconductor value chain, Flanders-based and international tech, pharma, medical and ICT companies, start-ups, and academia and knowledge centers. Imec is headquartered in Leuven (Belgium), and has research sites across Belgium, in the Netherlands and the USA, and representation in 3 continents. In 2022, imec’s revenue (P&L) totaled 846 million euro.
