Accelerating innovation
FAMES represents an investment of €830 million, co-funded by the European Commission under the EU Chips Act and by the Member States. The French contribution amounts to €730 million, co-funded by France 2030 and the European Commission. FAMES aims to accelerate the maturation of five strategic microelectronics technologies: advanced FD-SOI, embedded non-volatile memories, 3D integration, passive RF components, and passive components for power management. Coordinated by the CEA, the project brings together 11 partners in 8 countries and follows an open-access approach, serving European start-ups, SMEs, mid-sized companies, large groups and research organisations.
This inauguration marks a major milestone in accelerating innovation across Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem. Located in Grenoble, at the heart of the CEA’s microelectronics activities, the FAMES pilot line is ready to welcome both industrial and academic stakeholders to design, prototype and qualify the technologies that will shape the next generations of components.
Strengthening sovereignty
In a context of intensifying global competition, FAMES is a practical lever to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty, competitiveness and innovation capacity. As semiconductors underpin many strategic value chains, the advances enabled by FAMES will benefit not only microelectronics, but also key sectors such as automotive, telecommunications, Edge AI, Industry 5.0, healthcare, space, data centres and cybersecurity.
Unlike a manufacturing line, FAMES is designed to accelerate technology maturation and reduce the time between research and industrialisation. It provides a near-industrial environment to complete the decisive stages of development, prototyping and testing, helping to secure transfers to industry and paving the way for future production in the years ahead.
A “lab-to-market” deployment
This ability to move innovations “from the lab to the market” lies at the heart of the CEA’s DNA. Its microelectronics research institute, CEA-Leti, is built on a model that combines scientific excellence, state-of-the-art infrastructures representative of industrial facilities, and close collaboration with industry, to rapidly transform research results into robust, transferable technological solutions.
The FAMES line illustrates the mobilisation of CEA-Leti teams and their ability to rapidly deploy advanced industrial capabilities to meet the European timetable. In Grenoble, the programme notably relies on new 300 mm equipment and strengthened infrastructures designed to meet today’s technological requirements and anticipate those of the coming decades.Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, Chairwoman of the CEA, stated: “Semiconductors are at the heart of the digital transformation, marked by the growing role of intelligent systems and objects for AI, mobility, telecommunications and industry. With FAMES, the CEA and its partners intend to help strengthen Europe’s sovereignty by further accelerating innovation in microelectronics. This achievement illustrates the strength of our technological research model, rooted in scientific excellence and operational proximity to industrial players. It fully aligns with the ambition of the EU Chips Act and prepares the next step: consolidating, with our partners, a long-term European momentum.”