Annual & Sustainability report 2023

Imec is internationally recognized by industry and policymakers as a critical contributor to the global
semiconductor ecosystem. In July 2023, the Flanders government signed a letter of intent committing to invest in the further expansion of imec’s cleanroom. The investment of up to €750 million reflects the ambition in the European Chips Act to support pilot lines as part of the Chips for Europe initiative.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen endorsed the EU Chips Act ambitions wit…

Imec is internationally recognized by industry and policymakers as a critical contributor to the global
semiconductor ecosystem. In July 2023, the Flanders government signed a letter of intent committing to invest in the further expansion of imec’s cleanroom. The investment of up to €750 million reflects the ambition in the European Chips Act to support pilot lines as part of the Chips for Europe initiative.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen endorsed the EU Chips Act ambitions with a visit to imec. Also in attendance were Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Flanders Prime Minister Jan Jambon and Minister of Innovation Jo Brouns, and Peter Wennink, ASML’s CEO. In November 2023, European Commissioner Thierry Breton announced that the EU Chips Act funds for the various pilot lines, including a sub-2 nm systemon-chip pilot line, were approved and that calls for proposals were open. If our proposal is approved, we can further strengthen our leading position in nanoelectronics R&D with the support of Flanders and Europe, a position that was strengthened this year when we further deepened our long-standing strategic partnership with ASML, committing to installing ASML’s full set of advanced lithography and metrology equipment in our Leuven cleanroom. We are convinced that the chips acts in the various regions should reinforce and complement each other, generating critical mass to accelerate innovation in the microchip industry. Consequently, in 2023, we made a firm commitment to cross-border collaboration in Europe, the United States and Japan. A joint R&D lab was opened on the Purdue University campus in the US state of Indiana in December 2023 where a team of imec and Purdue researchers is developing new materials for the next generation of computing chips, work that will also serve to develop a more sustainable chip technology. The intention to collaborate with the University of Michigan was also announced, on whose campus, in the very heart of the US automotive industry, the focus is on developing semiconductor materials and chip architectures to primarily benefit the automotive industry. Rapidus, the recently established Japanese chip manufacturer, also joined our core program.