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In an additional move to combat the ongoing global chip shortage, Bosch plans to further extend its wafer fab in Reutlingen. More than a quarter of a billion euros is to be invested in creating new production space and the necessary clean-room facilities between now and 2025. This will give Bosch the firepower to meet the continuously growing demand for chips used in mobility and IoT applications.
chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH
In October 2021, Bosch announced it would be spending more than 400 million euros in 2022 alone on expanding its semiconductor operations in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany, and in Penang, Malaysia. Around 50 million euros of this sum is earmarked for the wafer fab in Reutlingen.
In addition, Bosch also announced plans to invest a total of 150 million euros in the creation of additional clean-room space in existing buildings at the Reutlingen facility over the period from 2021 to 2023. The further expansion of the site, which will see a new extension to the manufacturing facilities, will now supplement these measures. All in all, clean-room space in Reutlingen is set to grow from around 35,000 square meters at present to over 44,000 square meters by the end of 2025.
Bosch expands the semiconductor production in Reutlingen and thus creates additional 3,600 square meters of clean-room space. (Working model, view over Tuebinger Strasse from northwest)
The Reutlingen wafer fabs use 150- and 200-millimeter technology, while the Dresden plant makes chips on 300-millimeter wafers. Both employ cutting-edge manufacturing methods based on data-driven process control. “AI methods combined with connectivity have helped us achieve continuous, data-driven improvement in manufacturing and thereby produce better and better chips,” says Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector.
This includes the development of software to enable automated classification of defects. Bosch is also using AI to enhance materials flows. With its high level of automation, this state-of-the art production environment in Reutlingen will safeguard the plant’s future and the jobs of the people working there.
Power semiconductors based on silicon carbide from Bosch.
Bosch has been developing and manufacturing semiconductors for over 60 years, and for more than 50 of those years in Reutlingen – both for automotive applications and for the consumer electronics market. Bosch-manufactured semiconductor components include application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS sensors), and power semiconductors. The further expansion of the Reutlingen site will primarily serve the growing demand for MEMS in the automotive and consumer sectors and for silicon-carbide power semiconductors.
“Bosch is already a leading chip manufacturer for automotive applications,” Heyn says. “And this is a position we intend to consolidate.” Measures to achieve this include the development and manufacture of chips made of silicon carbide, which Bosch has been producing since December 2021. Chips made of this innovative material are destined to play an increasingly important role in electromobility. Bosch is currently the only automotive supplier worldwide manufacturing power semiconductors made of silicon carbide.
To create a MEMS sensor module, the MEMS sensor element is packed in a semiconductor housing (e.g. LGA) together with an evaluation circuit – the ASIC.
MEMS sensors are indispensable in vehicles and electronic devices today. The first versions were used in motor vehicles as pressure sensors and accelerometer. Over time, the largest technology driver for MEMS changed from automotive applications to consumer electronics – dominated by smartphones. Beyond that, MEMS sensors have become the heart of whole classes of new devices like fitness trackers, smart watches, virtual reality glasses and smart sensor nodes for the Internet of Things (IoT).
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