The European Union is funding the 14ACMOS project to develop the next technology node for semiconductor production It is expected that this node will enable the production of chip structures with dimensions down to 14 angstroms. Physik Instrumente (PI) participates in the research program by developing high-precision positioning systems with an accuracy of less than one nanometer.

High-end microchips manufactured using 3 nm technology are the current state of the art. Production technologies for the 2 nm technology node are expected to be available as early as next year and for 1.4 nm by 2027. The 95-million-euro research project 14ACMOS – short for 14 Angstrom CMOS – is co-funded by the European Union and supported by the “Joint Undertaking for Chips” (Chips JU). It brings together the know-how and development expertise of Europe’s leading suppliers to the semiconductor industry.

PI has been a system partner to the semiconductor industry for decades and is represented worldwide with positioning systems in a wide range of areas of semiconductor production. In areas such as lithography and metrology for quality control, the nanopositioning specialist's products are already in use. The positioning systems to be developed as part of the 14ACMOS project must also function precisely and highly dynamically under vacuum conditions in order to be economically viable.

The project is coordinated by ASML, the Dutch world leader in lithography systems for semiconductor manufacturing. It involves a total of twenty-five partners from six countries, among them (in order of net EU contribution): Imec (BEL), Carl Zeiss SMT (GER), Trumpf (GER), Bruker Technologies (ISR), and Applied Materials (ISR).