Chemnitz saw the launch of the Competence Network for Nanosystem Integration on 7th December 2009. The Network, which comprises three Fraunhofer institutes, two universities, three Leibniz institutes and a Helmholtz center, has been granted 14 million euros for research and development over the next five years. Existing research potential in micro- and nanotechnologies, as well as system integration, is to be bolstered and extended by the Nanosystem Integration Competence Network. Fraunhofer IZMs departments System Design and Integration and Wafer Level Packaging has been put in charge of the Networks research on miniaturized, 3D-integrated systems based on silicon interposers. Working in close collaboration with the IHP in Frankfurt and Fraunhofer ENAS, the group will develop various configurations of through-silicon vias and waveguides integrated in substrates. The impact of structured supply layers on the high-frequency characteristics of circuits, impedance and radiation will also be analyzed.

The project is being funded as part of the federal ministry for education and researchs (BMBF) Innovation Initiative for the New German Länder.