New Tech, Materials to Shape Microchip Future

Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle as part of his inaugural visit to Reiner Haseloff, Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt

Basic research may seem far removed from everyday technology, yet it often provides the spark for major industrial shifts. Germany's Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saw this process first-hand during a visit on 18 November to the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle. Researchers there are developing experimental materials and techniques that could push data storage and processing far beyond today's limits.

Transferring scientific findings into industrial applications is vital for generating economic growth. And while the Max Planck Society is renowned for its cutting-edge basic research, it has a long history of turning curiosity into real-world results. From FLASH, the imaging software that made MRI scans fast and clinically viable, to a completely new generation of light microscopes capable of visualizing molecules at the nanoscale, and CRISPR-Cas, the gene-editing system that recently enabled the world's first approved therapy for sickle-cell disease - ­ findings from the Max Planck Society have shaped technologies now used worldwide. Breakthroughs like these show how basic science can unlock solutions to medical, societal, economic, and technological challenges.

"Max Planck conducts cutting-edge research, but we are also expanding our commitment to technology transfer. This year alone, we have launched twelve spin-offs," says Max Planck President Patrick Cramer. One standout is Proxima Fusion, a startup from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics that secured a record €130 million in funding for fusion-energy development. The Society also ranks among Europe's top ten academic organizations involved in patent filings.

With regard to technology transfer, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized:

"We urgently need to ensure that when research and development reach the point of practical implementation and scaling, the necessary financing comes from Europe, not from the United States or elsewhere."

Few researchers embody the bridge between basic science and real-world impact as clearly as physicist Stuart Parkin, the Institute's managing director. Parkin, a British pioneer of a technique known as spintronics, holds more than 129 patents to his name and received the €1 million Millennium Technology Prize in 2014 (an award first given to Sir Tim Berners-Lee for creating the World Wide Web). Parkin's work revolutionised hard-drive design: his spintronics innovations increased data density a thousand-fold, enabling the vast cloud-storage systems that underpin today's digital world. Now he aims to develop the next wave of breakthrough technologies in Europe and strengthen both German and EU technological sovereignty.

Without basic research, there are no applied technologies

During the Chancellor's visit, the Max Planck Society reaffirmed its commitment to Germany's High-Tech Agenda, particularly in the field of microelectronics. Stuart Parkin is leading the concept for the Spintronics+ initiative, which the Max Planck Society proposed as part of this agenda. This initiative will explore new methods and technologies for significantly more powerful chips. Conventional CMOS technology has reached the limits of miniaturization, opening the door for architectures that rely on entirely new physical mechanisms. The Spintronics+ initiative is designed precisely to explore such future technologies: spintronics, 3D racetrack memory as an ultra-fast, energy-efficient, high-density storage technology, neuromorphic architectures based on spin and ion mechanisms, 2D quantum materials with new spintronic and optoelectronic functions, as well as hybrid spin-photon platforms for quantum computing.

The Institute plans to develop these technologies through a tightly integrated research and engineering programme. A suite of robot-operated laboratories in Halle will accelerate the process by combining atomically precise thin-film deposition, advanced material characterisation, and machine learning. The goal: shorten development cycles and build wafer-scale prototypes of neuromorphic and 3D memory devices. Strong national partnerships aim to establish technological sovereignty, reduce dependence on geopolitical actors, and strengthen production capabilities within Germany.