Our R&D strategy follows our overall Electronics technology strategy, which aims to enhance and expand our capabilities, drive organic growth and enable new technology platforms. Our Chief Technology Office (CTO) identifies trends and vets technologies that are beyond the time horizon or scope of our business units. As a dedicated technology organization, the CTO manages research partnerships, shapes our technology roadmaps and manages our long-term R&D portfolio. Our Technology Leadership Board reviews and optimizes our technology investment across the business sector.
We are focusing our R&D capabilities on next-generation semiconductor and optical materials to further strengthen our position as one of the leading suppliers to the electronics industry. Our R&D aims to find solutions for the needs that drive our industry: to create smaller, more powerful and more efficient chips and reduce the impact on the environment. Consequently, sustainability and the use of AI and machine learning are both key focus areas of our R&D.
Sustainable technologies and materials
Sustainability is a key innovation area for us. Our sustainability approach is based on three core pillars that drive our activities: collaboration, innovation and operation.
Collaboration
In the interconnected electronics supply chain, collaboration is crucial for developing and scaling sustainable solutions. Joint action benefits the entire value chain, enabling participants to achieve defined sustainability objectives together. One notable example of collaboration is the academic research program we initiated with Intel in Europe in 2023. This three-year initiative comprises six projects with currently eleven universities and institutes across six countries. It aims to develop sustainable semiconductor manufacturing solutions through AI and machine learning, focusing on new materials, efficient processes and waste reduction.
Innovation
Our R&D efforts push the boundaries of innovation to create a safer, smarter and more connected world while protecting the environment. One example of our commitment is the development of materials that do not use PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). They are intended to replace PFAS surfactants in photoresists, solvent-based antireflective coatings and rinse solutions. We already offer alternative products for some applications.
Operation
We recognize that real change begins with us, starting from our own production processes. We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint to meet our sustainability goals. Our efforts to reduce emissions of NF3 (nitrogen trifluoride) and N2O (nitrous oxide) from our own processes are one such example of our ambition in this area.
R&D activities in the business units
Semiconductor Solutions
Our R&D team works to ensure that we can supply the materials needed for every key step in wafer processing. To this end, we collaborate with original equipment manufacturers and device makers to shape the future of digital living, providing material solutions for advanced microchips with complex architectures, improved performance, enhanced thermal control, and greater energy efficiency.
The main R&D programs for our Semiconductor Solutions business units include the following:
Thin Films
In Thin Films, we are continuously expanding our product portfolio for both memory and logic chip customers, placing a key focus on unlocking new R&D opportunities as we move to smaller node sizes, including gate-all-around transistor architecture and advanced packaging. We are actively tackling the challenges associated with these innovative technologies. In our view, technologies that enable lower power consumption and higher performance are essential in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
We are committed to enhancing our offerings by developing cutting-edge material solutions, including molybdenum, ruthenium and cobalt precursors for selective metallization, highly conformal silicon-containing films on complex 3D structures with precise thickness control and enhanced performance, gap filling materials with low dielectric constants, metal oxide precursors, spin-on dielectric films, and more.
Formulations (Patterning and Planarization)
In Patterning, we are continuing to develop non-PFAS materials and have moved closer toward finalizing our new non-PFAS i-Line (365 nm) and KrF (248 nm) photoresists, which we are sampling with customers. Additionally, we are driving innovation in next-generation EUV photoresists.
Our long-term focus on directed self-assembly (DSA) is ongoing, leading to investments in new facilities in Darmstadt to prepare for high-volume manufacturing. The industry’s response to DSA has been encouraging, as this technology helps reduce random defects and lowers expenses for manufacturers.
In Planarization, some of our back-end-of-line products are now in the advanced stages of qualification for use in heterogeneous integration, thus paving the way for further AI-driven chip developments. We gained the first customer for our tungsten slurries in 2023, which is driving forward the use of our products in memory applications.
Specialty Gases
With one of the broadest specialty gases portfolios in the market, covering etching, cleaning, deposition, and dopant gases, we always have sustainability in focus and aim to develop material solutions to achieve both performance and emissions targets.
We are continuing our efforts to develop new, more climate-conscious low-emission etching and cleaning gases, including new low-GWP (global warming potential) materials, and expand the range of applications for which we are developing these sustainable solutions.
Display Solutions
Display Solutions (since January 1, 2025, Optronics) supports customers in developing advanced display technologies for various applications, including TV-, IT- and mobile devices, automotive displays, and gaming. In collaboration with partners, we are advancing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), expanding the application of display materials and enhancing user experiences for future immersive devices.
We maintain partnerships with leading panel manufacturers to develop next-generation display products and technologies, focusing on innovative barrier materials that offer superior flexibility, higher reliability and extended lifespans for flexible OLED devices. Our OLED and photoresist materials are integral components in numerous free-form displays, aiding customers in creating sustainable OLED structures for emerging IT applications.
Alongside our focus on new technologies, we are working on advancing LCD technology through collaborations with industry-leading panel makers. Additionally, we are developing both liquid crystal-on-silicon and OLED-on-silicon solutions for AR/VR displays and advancing materials for waveguides and gratings – essential components in new augmented reality devices.
The acquisition of Unity-SC enables us to develop cutting-edge metrology devices for heterogenous integration and high-bandwidth memory, as well as for advanced packaging in microchips.
Surface Solutions
In July 2024, we signed an agreement to divest the Surface Solutions business unit to Global New Material International Holdings Ltd. (GNMI), a leading pigment producer in China. R&D will continue within Surface Solutions until the sale is closed, after which the business unit will be transferred to GNMI.
In 2024, Surface Solutions continued to meet specific customer requirements by developing new formulations that, combined with existing products, provide customized solutions across various industries.