The agreement between Leti and the Fraunhofer Group was officially signed in Grenoble, as Marie Semaria, CEO of Leti, and Dr. Hubert Lakner, Chairman of the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics, announced during the Leti Innovation Days: The two institutes, which have been working together for some time, are deepening their cooperation: Both research centers want to cooperate on both 'More Moore' and 'More than Moore' and develop technologies that will be needed in future applications in areas such as IoT, augmented reality, automotive, healthcare, aviation and others.

Semaria is convinced that it is crucial for industry in Europe - and this is particularly true for Germany and France - that research institutes work together, as this is how the required key enabling technologies can be realized and quickly transferred to industry. This would give new impetus to the innovative strength of both countries and strengthen Europe's strategic and economic independence. Dr. Lakner explains: "Micro- and nanoelectronics as well as smart systems are key technologies for economic success in Europe, especially in Germany and France. Europe can no longer afford to split up its research competencies. It is becoming increasingly important to join forces for the benefit of industry, both in business and research. The new cooperation agreement is the beginning of strategic research cooperation between the two countries. We can now jointly support the recently launched Important Project of Common European Interest - IPCEI for short - on micro- and nanoelectronics."

The joint research activities cover the following topics

• Silicon-based technologies for upcoming CMOS processes and products, including design, simulation, process and material development and their production techniques.

• Advanced more-than-moore technologies for sensor and communication applications

• Advanced packaging and packaging technologies

In a second phase, the cooperation can be expanded to include other academic partners and other countries as required.