Universities represent a central innovation factor in these research-intensive fields of activity. Upon the Hightech Strategy 2025 the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) provides a total of 50 million euros for investments in microelectronic research at universities throughout Germany. Hence research at the highest international level is made possible by investing in state-of-the-art equipment and facilities at universities. Twelve “Research Laboratories Germany - ForLabs” were elected to open up new fields of research for the microelectronics of the future and train young scientists with state-of-the-art equipment. The laboratories network together and with external partners for better scientific exchange and stronger cooperation.
The Research Lab Microelectronics Hamburg for the Co-Integration of Electronics and Photonics – HELIOS – at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and the University of Hamburg (UHH) are funded with 5.15 million euros for establishing the new research infrastructure.
With ForLab HELIOS a networked laboratory for optoelectronics is being created that drives the integration of electronics and photonics. This co-integration makes photonic systems electronically controllable and the light circuits can be evaluated directly on the chip. This makes many applications much faster and more energy efficient. The investments are planned along the entire development process: from design and modeling, fabrication, integration and encapsulation to testing, characterization and feedback of the results into the design flow. Figure 1 summarizes the holistic research environment and strategy of ForLab HELIOS.
