Wafer factory to boost quantum tech in innovation district

For the first time, Denmark is establishing production of microchip wafers at the leading standard. This makes Denmark a global player in chip production. The new production facility will be located in Innovation District Copenhagen and is expected to give a major advantage to quantum researchers and -companies locating in the district.

Increasing European resilience and self-sufficiency

Microchips are a key component in nearly all the technologies we use today. Global demand for efficient microchips has been growing massively in both industry and research for decades. The European Union largely depends on microchips from Asia and the USA, and it is a major political goal to make the EU more self-sufficient. Until now, Denmark has been a minor player in the market with no facilities to produce chips at the leading standard. That is about to change.

Producing leading wafers

A new centre at Innovation District Copenhagen-partner University of Copenhagen, the POEM Technology Center, was launched on 21 August. With it Denmark is getting its first facility capable of producing wafers of the leading 300 mm standard. Wafers are the thin, ultra-pure slices of crystal material deposited on silicon which chips are built from, and which are grown in an advanced high-tech process.

Strategic partnership

The center is a strategic collaboration between the quantum research center Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme (NQCP) and the French company RIBER, and it will be part of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

The new partnership can accelerate the development of tomorrow’s microchips in Denmark and Europe and thereby help address the geopolitical and technological challenges that define the global chip industry. Hopefully, it will also position Denmark on the international market”: Peter Krogstrup, CEO, NQCP and professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Speeds Up Quantum Research

The new facility will not only produce advanced wafers — it will also help speed up the development of quantum chips. NQCP’s goal over the next 10 years is to develop the technology needed to build large, efficient quantum computers. To do this, researchers need close access to wafer production.

Photonic chips

The special machine at the heart of the new facility is specialized in making wafers for photonic chips – that is, light-based chips – which are the solution of the future for high-speed communication, optical data processing, and photonic quantum circuits.
The method the machine uses is called molecular beam epitaxy, which makes it possible to deposit extremely thin layers of atoms on wafer plates with tremendous precision and purity. It is exactly this precision and purity of the wafers that makes it possible to also produce quantum chips with them.

With this facility, we are moving material production in-house, which allows us to research and develop much more efficiently, because we are no longer dependent on asking others around the world to produce for us. Moreover, it helps us transfer the technologies we develop directly into mass production—for the benefit of ourselves, Denmark, and the entire field”: Peter Krogstrup, CEO, NQCP and professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Open to industrial partners

The POEM facility will also be open to industrial partners who want to produce chip prototypes for research and innovation purposes. It will be located in the new Niels Bohr Building, where engineers and technicians from NQCP and RIBER will handle daily operations. It is expected to be fully operational by mid 2026.

Solving high tech challenges

POEM is an example of how Danish research and European industry can collaborate to solve key high-tech challenges. We will benefit greatly from RIBER’s advanced equipment, while they in turn gain access to the world-class technological expertise we have built up here at the institute over many years”: Joachim Mathiesen, head of department, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Collaborators across Denmark

Several key Danish actors are contributing to the project, including DTU Nanolab, NATO Diana, and Aarhus University, with the goal of strengthening the national ecosystem in advanced microchips and quantum technology.