Tyndall proudly welcomes the inauguration of the FAMES Pilot Line, celebrated on January 30th, 2026.
The newly inaugurated FAMES Pilot Line is already delivering validated technical results across a range of advanced semiconductor technologies including FD-SOI, RF, embedded non-volatile memories, 3D integration technologies, and Power Management ICs.
It is the first of the five Chips Act pilot lines to reach full operational status, marking a significant milestone for the Chips for Europe Initiative.
The Pilot Line aims to accelerate the development and support the emergence of higher-performance, more energy-efficient, and more sustainable chip designs.
The objectives of the FAMES Pilot Line are to establish a domestic semiconductor Pilot Line for cutting-edge microelectronic technologies in Europe and provide open access to this Pilot Line to stakeholders of the electronic value chain. These objectives are aligned with those of the EU Chips Act: bolster the EU semiconductor industry and support European technological sovereignty through innovations, facilitated access to R&D, and training.
Attending the inauguration ceremony in Grenoble, France, Dr Giorgos Fagas, Director of Strategic Development at Tyndall commented
We are proud to be hosting partners in the FAMES consortium and offer Europe our cutting-edge magnetics-on-silicon and on-chip passive integration technologies. Closing the lab-to-fab gap, the FAMES Pilot Line will boost power delivery efficiency, advancing new applications in IoT and 6G while driving industry demand across the FD-SOI ecosystem. We are looking forward to continuing on this path of success for European semiconductor innovation.
The development of FD-SOI at 10nm and 7nm nodes, combined with non-volatile memories (NVM) and 3D options, RF components and smart PMIC (power management for Integrated circuits) creates a powerful foundation for delivering next-generation chip solutions. These high-performance and low-power solutions will sustainably support the massive digitalisation of our society by paving the way for new IC architectures, substantially reducing the overall circuit power consumption.
Semiconductor manufacturing—renowned for its technological sophistication—also carries a considerable environmental footprint. The FAMES Pilot Line is set to transform this global challenge by embedding sustainability at the core of its operations. It prioritises resource efficiency, promotes circular‑economy principles, and aims to minimise waste throughout the entire semiconductor value chain, from early design stages to full-scale manufacturing.
By integrating these eco‑friendly practices into advanced chip development, the FAMES Pilot Line will play a pivotal role in helping the semiconductor industry progress toward its long‑term ambition of achieving net‑zero emissions by 2050.
The FAMES Consortium brings together world-leading research and technology partners: CEA-Leti, coordinator of the pilot line (France), imec (Belgium), Fraunhofer Mikroelektronik (Germany), Tyndall (Ireland), VTT (Finland), CEZAMAT WUT (Poland), UCLouvain (Belgium), Silicon Austria Labs (Austria), SiNANO Institute (France), Grenoble INP-UGA (France), and the University of Granada (Spain). The FAMES Pilot Line is funded by the European Commission under the EU Chips Act.
