About Fraunhofer IISB

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB, headquartered in Erlangen, is one of Europe’s leading research institutions for wide-bandgap semiconductors and power electronics. It covers the entire value chain for next-generation power electronics: from material to chip and from module to system. The spectrum ranges from semiconductor materials and processing technologies through packaging and module designs to complex electronic and energy systems, such as ultra-compact converters, modular multilevel converters, electric drive trains, battery storage systems and decentralized energy grids. For silicon carbide (SiC), e.g., the institute operates the complete technological process chain.

Central are power electronics devices based on wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors for applications in the semiconductor and electronics industry, electromobility, aerospace, sustainable energy supply, and civil security. With its solutions, the institute keeps setting new benchmarks in energy efficiency, performance, and reliability, even for extreme operating conditions. In addition, Fraunhofer IISB is developing a new class of integrated intelligent power electronics, known as cognitive power electronics, by integrating data analysis, machine learning, and applied AI. As one of over 70 institutes belonging to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the central mission of the IISB is to transfer the latest research findings into globally competitive products for customers in industry or within the framework of publicly funded projects. 

Around 400 employees and numerous students work together at the IISB in facilities covering approximately 10,000 m². Alongside its headquarters in Erlangen, Bavaria, the institute maintains two more locations: the Fraunhofer Technology Center for High-Performance Materials THM in Freiberg (Saxony) and the E|Road Center in the Cleantech Innovation Park in Hallstadt (Bavaria).

The Fraunhofer Technology Center High Performance Materials THM in Freiberg, Saxony, is a research and transfer platform of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS. Here, the Energy Materials and Test Devices Department of the IISB is located. Together, semiconductor and energy materials are being transferred to new applications, with particular emphasis on material recycling. The activities at Fraunhofer THM are focused on the analysis and development of sustainable battery systems with improved life cycle assessment and raw material availability as well as the research and evaluation of innovative semiconductor components and the associated process steps.

The E|Road-Center is a pioneering initiative for the electrification of road infrastructure. This location of Fraunhofer IISB’s is situated at the Cleantech Innovation Park in Hallstadt, Bavaria. The aim is to develop and implement technologies for the wireless, inductive charging of electric vehicles when stationary, but also while driving. Research focuses on safe and efficient energy transmission from the infrastructure side to the vehicles. This includes the adaptation of vehicle-side systems and the development of innovative infrastructure components such as coil and grid systems as well as the associated power electronics. To accelerate industrial rollout, the E|Road-Center also works on the optimization of automation-oriented production processes.