This inauguration marks a major milestone in accelerating innovation across Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem. Located in Grenoble, at the heart of the CEA’s microelectronics activities, the FAMES pilot line is ready to welcome both industrial and academic stakeholders to design, prototype and qualify the technologies that will shape the next generations of components.
Unlike a manufacturing line, FAMES is designed to accelerate technology maturation and reduce the time between research and industrialisation. It provides a near-industrial environment to complete the decisive stages of development, prototyping and testing, helping to secure transfers to industry and paving the way for future production in the years ahead.
The FAMES line illustrates the mobilisation of CEA-Leti teams and their ability to rapidly deploy advanced industrial capabilities to meet the European timetable. In Grenoble, the programme notably relies on new 300 mm equipment and strengthened infrastructures designed to meet today’s technological requirements and anticipate those of the coming decades.
Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, Chairwoman of the CEA, stated: “Semiconductors are at the heart of the digital transformation, marked by the growing role of intelligent systems and objects for AI, mobility, telecommunications and industry. With FAMES, the CEA and its partners intend to help strengthen Europe’s sovereignty by further accelerating innovation in microelectronics. This achievement illustrates the strength of our technological research model, rooted in scientific excellence and operational proximity to industrial players. It fully aligns with the ambition of the EU Chips Act and prepares the next step: consolidating, with our partners, a long-term European momentum.”