Bosch opens a semiconductor wafer fab in Dresden: a new milestone

Bosch started producing the first silicon wafers for semiconductors in Dresden, making the manufacturing process fully automated. This is a major milestone on the way to opening the chip factory of the future and a key step toward starting chip production in June 2021.

The new factory in Dresden, scheduled to be fully operational by June 2021, is Bosch’s response to the growing use of semiconductors in various industries, as well as a demonstration of Germany’s commitment to high technology. The factory will make wafers 300 millimeters in diameter, and at only 60 micrometers thick, they will be thinner than a human hair. As specific integrated circuits ASICs in cars, for example, these semiconductors act as the brain of the car. They process information from sensors and trigger further actions, such as sending a lightning-fast message to the airbag to let it know it has been triggered. Although silicon chips are only a few mm2 in size, they contain complex circuits, sometimes with several million individual electronic functions. From the wafers, Bosch will produce power semiconductors for use in applications such as DC-DC converters in electric and hybrid cars.

In addition to the automotive industry, semiconductors are finding more and more uses, including in the Internet of Things. Making a chip from a semiconductor wafer is a high-tech process that involves several hundred steps. It takes six weeks and about 250 individual manufacturing steps to produce the wafers – and all of these processes are fully automated. In the process, the smallest particles in fractions of a micrometer are deposited on the wafers. These chip prototypes can now be installed and tested in electronic components for the first time. In March, Bosch will begin its first production runs on highly complex integrated circuits.

Construction of the facility began in June 2018 on a site of about 100,000 m2, which is comparable to the size of 14 soccer fields. The factory is located in “Silicon Saxony,” Dresden’s answer to Silicon Valley. At the end of 2019, a high-tech factory was completed, providing 72,000 m2 of production space. Interior work then began, and the installation of the first production equipment in a clean room. In November 2020, the initial elements of production completed a brief automated production cycle for the first time. During the final phase of construction, the Dresden plant will employ up to 700 people to oversee and monitor production and equipment maintenance.

The new project is funded by the German Federal Government, and in particular, by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy. Bosch plans to officially open its semiconductor wafer factory in June 2021.