Inno­va­tion Minister Hanke: CHAMP-ION begins imple­men­ta­tion

CHAMP‑ION, led by Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), will begin its imple­men­ta­tion phase in 2026 as Europe’s first pilot initia­tive for the indus­trial manu­fac­turing of ion‑trap chips. Austria is contributing an above‑average share to this effort: National part­ners will receive more than 30M EUR in funding support to develop fabri­ca­tion capac­i­ties, new training programs and estab­lish open service struc­tures. In doing so, Austria secures a key role in enabling access to a tech­nology of strategic impor­tance for Europe’s digital and tech­no­log­ical sover­eignty.

As the EU Chips Act moves into its imple­men­ta­tion phase, the Euro­pean project consor­tium of 21 orga­ni­za­tions is launching a quantum chip pilot line, trans­lating the strategic frame­work into concrete action.

“Just last week we presented the Indus­trial Strategy 2035. At its core is the defi­n­i­tion and targeted promo­tion of key tech­nolo­gies and areas of strength in which Austria has the poten­tial to be among the world leaders. This also includes the field of quantum tech­nology and chips. I am there­fore pleased to announce that the starting signal has been given for Europe’s first ion‑trap chip pilot line under the EU Chips Act, led by Silicon Austria Labs. This is yet another example of how Austria is helping to shape Europe’s future in quantum tech­nolo­gies,”stresses Innovation Minister Peter Hanke.

During the first three years, Austrian contri­bu­tions will focus on estab­lishing indus­trial‑grade manu­fac­turing capa­bil­i­ties and vali­dating advanced ion‑trap chip designs. These efforts lay the ground­work for Austrian compa­nies to access a high‑poten­tial tech­nology field with signif­i­cant economic rele­vance.

“The EU Chips Act creates the condi­tions for sustain­ably strength­ening Europe's tech­no­log­ical capa­bil­i­ties in the semi­con­ductor sector. Together with Silicon Austria Labs as a strong partner, the FFG is trans­lating these Euro­pean objec­tives into concrete projects and opening up indus­trial access to quantum tech­nolo­gies through pilot and manu­fac­turing struc­tures,” adds Karin Tausz, Managing Director of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG.

A key step in the upcoming phase is the intro­duc­tion of new open‑access models, including process design kits (PDKs) and profes­sion­ally coor­di­nated fabri­ca­tion path­ways. “These tools signif­i­cantly lower the entry barrier for ion‑trap chip tech­nolo­gies and help Austrian and Euro­pean compa­nies build early‑stage exper­tise,” adds Mohssen Moridi, Senior Executive Director at SAL.

With a total budget of EUR 50 million, co‑funded by the EU Chips Joint Under­taking and partic­i­pating Member States, CHAMP‑ION estab­lishes an essen­tial plat­form for building a resilient Euro­pean quantum tech­nology ecosystem. Austria is not only contributing — it is one of the driving forces advancing Europe’s tech­no­log­ical sover­eignty in quantum tech­nolo­gies.

Project Partner:

• Research and Technology Organizations: Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB), Institute of Scientific Instruments of the ASCR ISI, Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), and the National Metrology Institute of Italy (INRIM)
• Universities: University of Innsbruck, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, University Siegen, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, University of Padua, and Palacký University Olomouc
• SMEs: Alpine Quantum Technologies GmbH, neQxt GmbH, eleQtron GmbH, QUDORA technologies GmbH, Parity Quantum Computing GmbH, and AMIRES Business Innovation Management Institute, z.ú.
• Large Enterprises: Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Infineon Technologies Dresden GmbH & Co. KG, Infineon Technologies AG

About Silicon Austria Labs (SAL)

Silicon Austria Labs GmbH (SAL) was founded in 2018 as a top non-univer­sity re­search center in the field of Elec­tronics and Soft­ware Based Systems. At its loca­tions in Graz, Villach and Linz, re­search is conducted on key tech­nolo­gies in the fields of Microsys­tems, Sensor Systems, Power Elec­tronics, Intel­li­gent Wire­less Systems and Embedded Systems. SAL brings together key players from industry and science and thus valu­able exper­tise and know-how, and conducts coop­er­a­tive, appli­ca­tion-oriented re­search along the value chain. The aim is to accel­erate the value creation process from idea to inno­va­tion – with excel­lent re­search and economic bene­fits. Owners are the Republic (50.1%), the Provinces of Styria and Carinthia (10% each), the Province of Upper Austria (4.95%) and the Asso­ci­a­tion for the Elec­tric and Elec­tronics Industry (24.95%).