Precision for the circuits of tomorrow
Many applications would be inconceivable today without the semiconductor industry. The company AIXTRON from Herzogenrath is a player in this future-oriented market. Its facilities are used to manufacture microelectronic components that enable faster charging times and lower power consumption.
Whether it's electric vehicles, wind and solar power plants, fast-charging stations, or motor drives: the focus is always on high performance with the lowest possible power consumption. This means minimizing conversion losses. To enable faster and more efficient data transmission, reduce charging times for electric vehicles, or improve the efficiency of power supply for consumer electronics, highly complex microelectronic components are needed. Components made of so-called compound semiconductors are also used for optical data transmission and 3D sensor technology. A crucial manufacturing step in the production of these semiconductor components involves the high-precision application of special coatings. AIXTRON, based in Herzogenrath near Aachen, develops and distributes the necessary equipment for this process.
“Our expertise includes, among other things, applying this extremely thin layer, only a few nanometers thick, with absolute uniformity.”
The company from North Rhine-Westphalia developed a technology for coating so-called wafers. Wafers are circular discs, up to one millimeter thick, that serve as base plates or substrates for microelectronic or optical components. Several thousand transistors can be manufactured from a single wafer. The crucial factor is the thin layer of material, such as silicon carbide or gallium nitride, with which the wafers are coated. "Our expertise lies, among other things, in applying this extremely thin layer, just a few nanometers thick, with absolute uniformity," explains Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO of AIXTRON. The more perfect the ultra-thin layer, the better the component. According to AIXTRON, this can reduce charging times by a factor of three and energy loss during power conversion by up to 40 percent. The company reports that the entire market for power electronics was worth around 22 billion euros in 2023. Components with gallium nitride coatings accounted for only 1.5 percent of this. AIXTRON claims to be the market leader in coating systems for this segment. For components using silicon carbide, which account for 12.5 percent of the total market, AIXTRON's market share for the systems is around 40 percent.
At its headquarters in Herzogenrath, AIXTRON employs around 800 people. Together with its other production sites in Great Britain and Italy, as well as its global service offices, the company employs over 1,200 people. More than a third of all employees are active in research and development. "North Rhine-Westphalia is extremely important to us as a location," emphasizes Grawert. The company values the close proximity to world-class research institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia. AIXTRON maintains very close ties with RWTH Aachen University and numerous research collaborations with the Jülich Research Centre. A particular commitment to the location, and simultaneously a symbol of the importance of research and development: In December 2024, AIXTRON opened a new innovation center at its home site, featuring 1,000 square meters of cleanroom space. The company invested 100 million euros. A prominent guest at the opening was North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Economic Affairs, Mona Neubaur. "AIXTRON's new innovation center is an impressive example of the innovative strength and future viability of the semiconductor industry in North Rhine-Westphalia," said the Minister. The launch of 300-millimeter wafer technology is a milestone for the energy efficiency and competitiveness of the region. "Our global competitiveness benefits enormously from robust domestic semiconductor production, because semiconductors are what make the transformation towards climate neutrality possible in the first place," she explained, "without them, no computer runs, no car drives, and neither wind nor solar power plants can produce energy."
This success story of an innovative transformation was published in February 2025. No updates or reviews of the information have taken place since then.
The publication series “Transformation through Innovation” aims to illustrate how companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to write successful innovation stories thanks to the framework conditions created by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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