One of the key technologies of digitalisation is microelectronics. Mastering this technology is crucial for Europe's technological sovereignty. Together with the member states, the EU is funding innovative research projects and pilot lines in the field of microelectronics as part of the European Partnership for Microelectronics Research and Technology, including the joint project "10 Angstrom CMOS exploration" with 30 cooperation partners from industry and research, including the IOM. The focus in Germany is on multifunctional electronic systems, energy-saving power electronics, the design of complex systems and production technologies, which are co-funded by the BMBF and SMWA in the joint project "Technologies for 10 Angstrom lithography in chip production - 10ÅCe", also with IOM participation, each with 50% funding as part of the European microelectronics funding programme CHIPS.

With its many years of expertise in the hardware and process development of ion beam-assisted etching technologies, researchers from the IOM's "Ultra-Precision Surfaces / Ion Beam Assisted Structuring and Smoothing" research area will contribute to advancing the state of the art in the field of 10 Ångstrom lithography over the next three years. The aim is to gain a fundamental understanding of, for example, the etching process on surfaces on both atomic and mesoscopic scales in order to enable the development, characterisation and optimisation of corresponding etching tools and tool functions. As a result, an advanced manufacturing technology will be developed to improve the quality of surface structuring.

Another direct effect of this cooperation is to further increase the innovative capacity and attractiveness of the IOM as a research institution specialising in ion beam technologies and to strengthen its competitiveness. In general, it can contribute to raising the production of a large number of optical elements to a new level of quality. This will benefit a broad spectrum of industrial companies in Europe, from the manufacturers of the necessary ion beam processing equipment to the end users of the corresponding optics. For Saxony, the utilisation of the research results and the intended technology transfer into highly innovative applications together with a technologically leading industrial partner means a strengthening of the development and production expertise of its research institutions and plant manufacturers.