{"id":6718,"date":"2026-07-16T09:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/?p=6718"},"modified":"2026-07-30T09:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:38:14","slug":"sal-and-shincron-join-forces-to-establish-first-of-its-kind-european-platform-for-lithium-niobate-based-thin-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/sal-and-shincron-join-forces-to-establish-first-of-its-kind-european-platform-for-lithium-niobate-based-thin-films\/","title":{"rendered":"SAL and SHIN\u00adCRON join forces to esta\u00adblish first-of-its-kind Euro\u00adpean plat\u00adform for lithium-niobate-based thin films"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) and SHIN\u00adCRON are joining forces to bring the first SHIN\u00adCRON INACO sputter depo\u00adsi\u00adtion plat\u00adform of its kind in Europe to the SAL MicroFab in Villach. The plat\u00adform adds a critical mate\u00adrial-depo\u00adsi\u00adtion capa\u00adbi\u00adlity to Euro\u00adpe\u2019s emer\u00adging 200 mm thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) value chain: the in-house deve\u00adlop\u00adment and control of lithium-niobate-based thin-film mate\u00adrial stacks. This step streng\u00adt\u00adhens Euro\u00adpean access to advanced lithium-niobate mate\u00adrial capa\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adties and supports the scaling of next-gene\u00adra\u00adtion tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies in inte\u00adgrated photo\u00adnics, RF, sensing, quantum tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies and future micro\u00adsys\u00adtems appli\u00adca\u00adtions.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) is emer\u00adging as a stra\u00adtegic mate\u00adrial plat\u00adform for next-gene\u00adra\u00adtion high-perfor\u00admance tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies. Its strong electro-optic, nonlinear optical and func\u00adtional proper\u00adties make it highly rele\u00advant for high-speed optical commu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion, RF photo\u00adnics, sensing, quantum tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies, co-packaged optics and advanced micro\u00adsys\u00adtems. However, brin\u00adging these tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies closer to indus\u00adtrial use requires more than isolated process steps. It requires a controlled and inte\u00adgrated process chain \u2014 from mate\u00adrial depo\u00adsi\u00adtion and stack opti\u00admiza\u00adtion to device fabri\u00adca\u00adtion, inte\u00adgra\u00adtion, testing and future transfer into indus\u00adtrial envi\u00adron\u00adments.<\/p>\n<p>Reliable access to high-quality, appli\u00adca\u00adtion-specific lithium-niobate-based mate\u00adrial stacks remains a major bott\u00adleneck for scaling TFLN tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies beyond labo\u00adra\u00adtory demons\u00adtra\u00adtions. By brin\u00adging advanced sputter depo\u00adsi\u00adtion capa\u00adbi\u00adlity in-house, SAL will gain deeper control over mate\u00adrial-stack forma\u00adtion, inclu\u00adding crys\u00adtall\u00adinity, refrac\u00adtive index, stress, surface rough\u00adness, adhe\u00adsion and wafer-level unifor\u00admity. This capa\u00adbi\u00adlity streng\u00adt\u00adhens Euro\u00adpe\u2019s emer\u00adging 200 mm TFLN value chain by redu\u00adcing depen\u00addency on limited mate\u00adrial sources, impro\u00adving trace\u00ada\u00adbi\u00adlity and enab\u00adling repro\u00addu\u00adcible thin-film stacks tailored to future appli\u00adca\u00adtions.<\/p>\n<p>The SHIN\u00adCRON INACO system is desi\u00adgned as a flexible deve\u00adlop\u00adment plat\u00adform for advanced sputter depo\u00adsi\u00adtion of lithium niobate and related func\u00adtional mate\u00adrials. Its confi\u00adgu\u00adra\u00adtion supports the explo\u00adra\u00adtion of new mate\u00adrial systems and process windows across diffe\u00adrent substrates and appli\u00adca\u00adtion requi\u00adre\u00adments. For SAL, this flexi\u00adbi\u00adlity is essen\u00adtial: before advanced thin-film tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies can move toward indus\u00adtrial use, the rela\u00adti\u00adonship between depo\u00adsi\u00adtion condi\u00adtions, mate\u00adrial quality and wafer-level repro\u00addu\u00adci\u00adbi\u00adlity must be unders\u00adtood and controlled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSHIN\u00adCRON is proud to cont\u00adri\u00adbute to SAL\u2019s vision of esta\u00adblis\u00adhing a 200 mm-compa\u00adtible TFLN process line in Europe. As photonic tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies move closer to indus\u00adtrial appli\u00adca\u00adtion, success depends on the ability to under\u00adstand, opti\u00admize, and repro\u00adduce the entire process chain \u2014 from mate\u00adrial forma\u00adtion to wafer-level manu\u00adfac\u00adtu\u00adring. The INACO plat\u00adform was deve\u00adl\u00adoped with this philo\u00adsophy in mind. It provides a flexible envi\u00adron\u00adment for process explo\u00adra\u00adtion, mate\u00adrial-stack opti\u00admiza\u00adtion, and tech\u00adno\u00adlogy matu\u00adra\u00adtion, while main\u00adtai\u00adning a clear pathway toward indus\u00adtrial manu\u00adfac\u00adtu\u00adring.<\/p>\n<p>SHIN\u00adCRON\u2019s commit\u00adment to SAL and its part\u00adners is to help ensure that the processes deve\u00adl\u00adoped on INACO can be trans\u00adferred with confi\u00addence into robust, repro\u00addu\u00adcible, and scalable manu\u00adfac\u00adtu\u00adring,\u201d said <strong>Mr. Kaz Asano, Corpo\u00adrate Officer and Member of the Board at SHIN\u00adCRON.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The colla\u00adbo\u00adra\u00adtion combines SHIN\u00adCRON\u2019s exper\u00adtise in advanced thin-film depo\u00adsi\u00adtion equip\u00adment with SAL\u2019s clean\u00adroom infra\u00adstruc\u00adture, process know-how and appli\u00adca\u00adtion-driven re\u00adsearch envi\u00adron\u00adment. By connec\u00adting mate\u00adrial deve\u00adlop\u00adment with wafer-level process\u00ading, device inte\u00adgra\u00adtion and future indus\u00adtrial transfer, the part\u00adners aim to acce\u00adle\u00adrate the matu\u00adra\u00adtion of lithium-niobate-based thin-film tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis colla\u00adbo\u00adra\u00adtion with SHIN\u00adCRON is an important step in buil\u00adding a diffe\u00adren\u00adtiated Euro\u00adpean capa\u00adbi\u00adlity for lithium-niobate-based thin-film tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies,\u201d said <strong>Dr. Mohssen Moridi, Senior Director at Silicon Austria Labs.<\/strong> \u201cWith the first SHIN\u00adCRON INACO plat\u00adform of its kind in Europe, SAL is addres\u00adsing a critical bott\u00adleneck in the TFLN value chain: reliable access to high-quality, appli\u00adca\u00adtion-specific mate\u00adrial stacks. This is essen\u00adtial for Euro\u00adpe\u2019s ability to move beyond isolated process steps and build deeper control over advanced thin-film mate\u00adrials, from depo\u00adsi\u00adtion and process deve\u00adlop\u00adment to future inte\u00adgra\u00adtion and indus\u00adtrial transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With this step, SAL is moving toward a first-of-its-kind Euro\u00adpean 200 mm TFLN plat\u00adform that combines mate\u00adrial-stack deve\u00adlop\u00adment, wafer-level process\u00ading, inte\u00adgra\u00adtion, testing and future indus\u00adtrial transfer. By closing the gap between lithium-niobate-based thin-film depo\u00adsi\u00adtion and down\u00adstream device fabri\u00adca\u00adtion, SAL can support industry part\u00adners in moving from early-stage process deve\u00adlop\u00adment toward repro\u00addu\u00adcible, scalable and appli\u00adca\u00adtion-oriented thin-film tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies.<\/p>\n<p>The instal\u00adla\u00adtion will further streng\u00adthen the SAL MicroFab in Villach as a Euro\u00adpean clean\u00adroom infra\u00adstruc\u00adture for advanced thin-film process\u00ading, inte\u00adgrated photo\u00adnics, quantum-enab\u00adling tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies, RF appli\u00adca\u00adtions, sensing and indus\u00adtri\u00adally rele\u00advant micro\u00adsys\u00adtems. By deve\u00adlo\u00adping mate\u00adrial-stack exper\u00adtise and process know-how directly in Europe, SAL is buil\u00adding the infra\u00adstruc\u00adture, compe\u00adtence and partner network needed to move next-gene\u00adra\u00adtion func\u00adtional thin-film mate\u00adrials \u2014 inclu\u00adding lithium niobate, lithium tantalate and related mate\u00adrial systems \u2014 from mate\u00adrial deve\u00adlop\u00adment toward scalable appli\u00adca\u00adtions and future indus\u00adtrial transfer. With its 200 mm process focus and 300 mm-compa\u00adtible plat\u00adform concept, the system also opens a pathway toward future inte\u00adgra\u00adtion with broader wafer-level tech\u00adno\u00adlogy plat\u00adforms, inclu\u00adding CMOS-related ecosys\u00adtems.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) and SHIN\u00adCRON are joining forces to bring the first SHIN\u00adCRON INACO sputter depo\u00adsi\u00adtion plat\u00adform of its kind in Europe to the SAL MicroFab in Villach. The plat\u00adform adds a critical mate\u00adrial-depo\u00adsi\u00adtion capa\u00adbi\u00adlity to Euro\u00adpe\u2019s emer\u00adging 200 mm thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) value chain: the in-house deve\u00adlop\u00adment and control of lithium-niobate-based thin-film [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"isevent":false,"location":"","eventdate":null,"eventtime":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6718"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6722,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions\/6722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silicon-austria-labs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}