CEA-Leti has launched SubFAB Labs with International SubFAB Research Labs (ISRL), a joint program providing the semiconductor industry with a pre-industrial environment to test, validate and qualify technologies designed to reduce the environmental impact of chip manufacturing.
Subfabs are the infrastructure beneath cleanrooms that pump, abate and treat gases, chemicals and wastewater from chip processes. The release says these systems shape much of a fab’s environmental footprint, but new solutions are difficult to study inside active production fabs. SubFAB Labs is funded entirely by industry.
The first phase is under way at CEA-Leti’s Grenoble site and will run for up to four years in its existing pilot line. It will create a database of material-use efficiency and a catalog of by-products across semiconductor process families, while developing a reference monitoring system that combines sensor technologies to measure effluent composition and concentration.
HORIBA and TOFWERK will test, validate and qualify existing and next-generation sensors on IC processes at every stage of waste handling. Edwards Vacuum will use the program to study process waste streams and test real-time abatement strategies. The program is intended to support evaluation of environmental and economic benefits and modelling to scale results to real fabs.
CEA-Leti CEO Sébastien Dauvé said: “CEA-Leti and ISRL share the conviction that the subfab, long overlooked in sustainability efforts, needs dedicated, science-based R&D. SubFAB Labs puts that conviction into practice. By activating Phase 1 on our pilot line, we are giving our partners the data they need to decide which solutions to develop, and a path to bring them from lab to fab faster.”
Four additional phases are planned to start in 2027, targeting PFAS treatment, etching, deposition, cleaning and polishing. They will test prototype solutions under manufacturing conditions, measure emissions reductions and assess effects on waste handling, safety and cost. Dauvé is scheduled to announce the program at SEMICON Europa 2026.
