AI Chip Design and III-V Pilot Lines for Electronics Manufacturing

© Fraunhofer IAF

From October 6 to 8, 2026, the EFX—Expo for Electronics Manufacturing will take place for the first time at the Stuttgart exhibition center. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF will be exhibiting at the joint Chip Connect BW area. The focus will be on the institute’s newly launched research activities in the field of AI tools for chip design and chip design for AI applications, as well as its established expertise in III-V semiconductor manufacturing for pilot lines.

With EFX, Messe Stuttgart is positioning itself as a new platform for innovative, digital, and resilient electronics manufacturing. Fraunhofer IAF is using this premiere to showcase two key future fields of microelectronics: the connection between artificial intelligence and chip design, and access to powerful and sovereign III-V pilot lines for heterogeneous integration and chip manufacturing.

Fraunhofer IAF is actively involved as a partner in the new Baden-Württemberg semiconductor network Chip Connect BW, which is operated by microTEC Südwest. Together with other network partners, the institute is presenting local expertise along the semiconductor value chain and in technology transfer at EFX.

AI for Chips, Chips for AI—New Activities in Heilbronn

At the booth, Fraunhofer IAF will present an interactive exhibit on AI tools for chip design and on chip design for AI applications. This exhibit is based on two newly launched initiatives by the institute at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) in Heilbronn:

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 artificial intelligence. 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. The project is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Skilled Craft and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg.

In parallel, the institutes Fraunhofer IAF and IIS, together with the Research and Innovation Center 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 Centers 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 Sovereign Pilot Lines

In addition to AI chip design, Fraunhofer IAF will present another key technology for the electronics manufacturing of tomorrow at EFX: the ability to make specialized III-V chip technologies accessible to industry through pilot lines. III-V compound semiconductors such as gallium nitride (GaN) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) are key technologies for 5G/6G networks, autonomous driving, satellite communication, and modern defense systems—areas in which Europe must not be dependent on non-European supply chains. The exhibits presented by Fraunhofer IAF exemplify the institute's comprehensive chain of expertise and its specialized cleanroom – from epitaxy and process development to design and characterization, 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. In this way, together with its strong network partners, the institute makes a direct contribution to resilient, European manufacturing capacities in electronics manufacturing, thereby creating the foundation for mastering critical high technologies independently – from the laboratory to industrial production.

Face to face at the booth

“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 Prof. 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.”