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rates during the production process. The
main purpose of this project is to widen
the range of available miniaturization and
microelectronic fabrication possibilities,
including novel approaches in assembly
processes added directly into production
steps. TINKER will also train PhD and
MSc students and aim to publish scientific
papers and protect intellectual property.
The TINKER consortium comprises
10 companies, three research specialists,
one consultancy and a service association,
who are major players in the field of Table 1: The TINKER consortium.
semiconductor and microelectronic
manufacturing, as well as in the fields of high-level overview about the activities Grant Agreement nº 958472 with an overall
material and process development and centered on the pick-and-place equipment budget of € 10,241,526.25. The project is
industrial fields applying, or interested and shows an early prototype of the coordinated by scientist Leo Schranzhofer
in applying, additive manufacturing for RADAR demonstrator. It also touches on at PROFACTOR GmbH. Discover more
their needs (Table 1). All the partners the metrology systems that are developed about the project on its website (www.
have a track record of nationally- and by BESI and SENTECH. project-tinker.eu) and on its social media
internationally-funded projects in their Another report presents the NIL platforms linkedin.com/in/tinker-eu-
special research fields. infrastructure and available tools, as well ba27b01b9 and twitter.com/project_tinker.
Within the first year, the partners in the as those developed specifically for the
consortium have made significant progress TINKER project. For the realization of Reference
in creating the proposed TINKER pilot LiDAR sensors, the TINKER consortium 1. Yole Développement (2021, September
line and the innovative techniques it aims is developing a NIL-based fabrication 2). LiDAR adoption: Technology
to employ, especially pick and place, method for photonic integrated circuits. choices and supply chain management
inkjet printing and NIL. Partners are The photonic integrated circuit is the are the key enablers [Press release].
working on developing and perfecting very precise core element necessary for www.yole.fr/iso_upload/News/2021/
designs, processes and materials required the manipulation of light for each LiDAR PR_LIDAR_AUTOMOTIVE and
for the two selected use cases. They have sensor. The aim of TINKER is to replace INDUSTRIAL_MarketUpdate_
been able to overcome the obstacles that certain fabrication steps in an optical DesignWins_Yole_September2021.pdf
the COVID-19 pandemic posed and phased array (OPA) process flow with NIL
collaborated successfully on developing in order to achieve fast and reliable direct Biographies
equipment and tools and shared samples, manufacturing of the needed passive Leo Schranzhofer is Lead Scientist and
technologies, and processes. Examples optical elements, such as the waveguides Head of the “Functional Surfaces and
of such fruitful collaborations are and optical coupling structures. This Nanostructures” team at PROFACTOR
the completion of the pick-and-place will reduce the size of the photonic IC GmbH in Steyr, Austria and project
equipment prototype, creation of the initial device and its fabrication costs, as well as coordinator of the TINKER project.
setup for improved inline monitoring and increase the throughput of its production. He has a doctorate in chemistr y,
feedback, and the infrastructure and tools With the completion of this deliverable, the specialized in analytical chemistry and
set up for NIL. The consortium has made TINKER consortium has now completed chemical sensors, from the U. of Vienna.
significant progress in equipment and the equipment and tools development for Email: leo.schranzhofer@profactor.at
tools development for the TINKER pilot the use case in TINKER. Martin Eibelhuber is Deputy Head
line, and a solid base for achieving the An important goal is to integrate inline of Bu si ness Development at EV
project’s ambitious goals is now created. process monitoring for different production Group, Austria, focusing on compound
One year after the project’s launch, it is processes: pick and place, inkjet printing, semiconductors, nanotechnology,
well on track to reach its aim of widening and NIL. These processes pose multiple and photonics applications. He has a
the range of available miniaturization and requirements on inspection and inline doctorate in Technical Physics from the
microelectronic fabrication possibilities, monitoring. Sensor technology deployed Johannes Kepler U. Linz, specializing in
and introducing novel approaches to in TINKER to meet these requirements nanoscience and semiconductor physics.
assembly processes, directly in production. comprise optical inspection, curing sensor, Martina Chopart, MSc., is an EU Project
The first public results can be accessed and thermographic imaging. This is Manager at AMIRES s.r.o. in Prague,
via the project webpage (https://www. covered in the third report. where she is responsible for management
project-tinker.eu/downloads/#public_ This project has received funding from and dissemination of projects within the
deliverables) and are summarized in the European Union’s Horizon 2020 DeepTech program.
three reports. The first report provides a research and innovation program under the

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