Fraunhofer IAF to feature at EFX, Stuttgart
From October 6 to 8, 2026, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF will be exhibiting in the joint Chip Connect BW area of the EFX—Expo for Electronics Manufacturing in Stuttgart, Germany.
As a partner in the new Baden-Württemberg semiconductor network Chip Connect BW, the institute (along with other partners) will be presenting local expertise along the semiconductor value chain and in technology transfer.
The focus will be on the institute’s newly launched research activities in the field of AI tools for chip design, as well as its established expertise in III-V semiconductor manufacturing for pilot lines.
In the state project 'FRAUKE—Fraunhofer AI Design', Fraunhofer IAF, together with the University of Stuttgart and IMS CHIPS, is researching CMOS circuit design for and through AI. The goal is both AI-accelerated design processes and CMOS-based hardware components for AI applications, for example in the fields of edge computing and image processing.
In parallel, the institutes Fraunhofer IAF and IIS, together with the Research and Innovation centre FIZ Chip AI, are building a long-term infrastructure for AI chip design. Funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, a platform for 'AI Hardware Made in Germany' is being established as part of the Fraunhofer Heilbronn Research and Innovation centres HNFIZ – ranging from AI-supported CMOS design processes to neuromorphic processors and spiking neural networks for energy-efficient edge AI.
III-V semiconductor manufacturing and pilot lines
In addition to AI chip design, Fraunhofer IAF will present the ability to make specialised III-V chip technologies accessible to industry through pilot lines. GaN and InGaAs, for example, are key technologies for 5G/6G networks, autonomous driving, satcoms, and modern defence systems — areas in which there are concerns about Europe being dependent on non-European supply chains.
The exhibits presented will range from epitaxy and process development to design and characterisation, to modules and advanced prototyping based on III-V compound semiconductors.
Fraunhofer IAF also contributes this expertise as a cooperating institute of the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD). Within this consortium of 13 Fraunhofer Institutes and the Leibniz Institutes FBH and IHP, Fraunhofer IAF provides the III-V expertise for high-frequency, power, and optoelectronics.
“With our presence at EFX, we are demonstrating how closely AI and microelectronics already interact today—from intelligent chip design to powerful hardware for AI applications,” says Rüdiger Quay, director of Fraunhofer IAF. “At the same time, our institute, with its III-V pilot lines and its role in the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany, stands for the industrial transfer of these technologies in Germany and Europe.”
