Business Units – Information and Communication Technology

The new era of increasing connectivity and digitalization creates new challenges for the design and construction of ICT systems:

The efficient sharing and storing of data needs ever larger data centers and the means to transmit electric and optical signals. Digitalization itself brings its own challenges: There is increasing demand for highly dynamic networks that can transport, process, and analyze data.

Fraunhofer IZM offers comprehensive solutions for these challenges with more than two decades of experience in the field of system integration.

This expertise has been used to develop e.g. a novel processor cooling method that includes micro-channels for integrated coolants in silicon interposers.

Be it the hybrid integration of electro-optical packaging technology with exacting standards for process accuracy or textile manufacturing technologies for Body Area Networks, Fraunhofer IZM is dedicated to enabling SMEs in particular to substantially reduce the cost and time needed for product development. With eco-design, intensive studies into the repairability and recyclability of consumer products like tablets, and research into technical obsolescence, Fraunhofer IZM fully includes the important question of sustainability in electronics development.

With core expertise in the development of application-oriented system designs, Fraunhofer IZM is perfectly placed to develop wireless sensor nodes and systems as well as high-frequency and high-speed communication applications with HQ components for miniaturized, reliable, and extremely energy-efficient wireless communication. Our laboratories are equipped with testing devices operating in frequency ranges from DC to 220 GHz, capable of handling current high-frequency systems e.g. for 5G applications.

In the field of optical communication technology, Fraunhofer IZM developed the concept of the electro-optical circuit board (EOCB) back in 1999. This is based on the combination of electrical and optical signal transmission on one circuit board, thus combining the advantages of both technologies. Optical waveguides integrated in glass are used as the optical layer. For their fabrication, Fraunhofer IZM has developed an ion exchange process for commercial equipment, achieving upscaling to large format thin glass (up to 457mm x 303mm). Further information on EOCB can be found under this link.

Our services:

• Design of integrated, miniaturized, autonomous, and robust sensor systems and wireless networks
• Construction of high-frequency systems and electro-optical components
• Optimization of processes and transfer of construction technologies for highly integrated systems
• Reliability testing and service life forecasting
• Consulting and eco-design services for sustainable ICT products