Center for Microelectronics Dresden

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Center for Microelectronics Dresden AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1961
resolution 2015
Reason for dissolution taken over by Integrated Device Technology
Seat Dresden , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Frank Schulze
Number of employees 400 (2015)
sales 61.1 million euros (2014)
Branch Semiconductor manufacturing

The ZMDI Design Center in Dresden

In the 1980s, the Center for Microelectronics Dresden in Dresden was considered to be the heart of the GDR - microelectronics research and, in this context, part of the GDR's 1 megabit memory chip project. After the reunification of Germany, the facility was converted into a private company. At the end of 2015 it was taken over by Integrated Device Technology and incorporated into its corporate structure. The “Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden” brand was no longer used after the takeover.

history

ZMD-U6264 memory circuit 1999
Dynamic MEGABIT memory in 1 µm CMOS - silicon gate technology U61000 with approx. 2.2 million components (1988)

The origin of today's company ZMD goes back to the establishment of the work center for molecular electronics (AME) on August 1, 1961 in Dresden by Werner Hartmann . In 1969 the company was renamed as Arbeitsstelle für Molecular Electronics Dresden (AMD); not to be confused with the American company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which was founded in the same year and which operated a semiconductor plant , AMD Saxony LLC & Co. KG , in Dresden from 1998 to 2009 . In 1976 it was renamed the Institute for Microelectronics Dresden (IMD). The IMD has been integrated into the combine since the establishment of the Combine Microelectronics (1978). In 1980 the IMD merged with VEB Elektromat Dresden , a combine operation in the association of the combine microelectronics to form the VEB Center for Research and Technology Microelectronics (ZFTM). Ulf Gottschling was the director of the ZFTM at that time, and thus responsible for around 1550 employees.

In February 1986 the ZFTM was incorporated into the Carl Zeiss Jena combine . In 1987 the parts of VEB Elektromat were spun off again and a new name VEB Research Center Microelectronics Dresden (ZMD) was introduced. In 1988 the ZMD produced the GDR's first 1 megabit memory chip , the U61000 , but the chip did not go into series production until 1990. The research center collective was awarded the GDR National Prize in 1988 for developing this memory chip .

Administration by the Treuhandanstalt

The end of June 1990, converted the formerly state-owned research center with a total of about 3,000 employees in the ZMD GmbH iG and under the umbrella of microelectronics technology mbH (MTG, merger of the semiconductor works Erfurt , Neuhaus , Frankfurt (Oder) and Dresden) of the THA assumed. Dieter Landgraf-Dietz and Claus Martin became managing directors.

Takeover by the Free State of Saxony

With the help of the Saxon state government, the research center was separated from MTG and privatized in November 1993. The Free State of Saxony was the de facto owner of the newly founded ZMD GmbH. Affiliates of Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank acted as trustee administrators. The company was in the red for years, but was subsidized by the Free State because, according to Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs at the time, Kajo Schommer, it was "good for the image and the industrial settlement of the location".

Sale to Sachsenring

In order to reduce the burdens on the state budget , ZMD GmbH was sold in 1999 to Sachsenring Automobiltechnik AG Zwickau for a symbolic DM 2 under the managing director Detlef Golla .

However, with the takeover of the Center for Microelectronics Dresden (ZMD), Sachsenring got increasingly into financial difficulties. Because the Saxon state government unlawfully passed on funding to the ailing company ZMD, which was previously owned by the Free State, and thus violated applicable EU law. Since ZMD was consolidated in the Sachsenring group after the takeover in 1998, there was a risk of an EU main review procedure from 1999 to 2002 and the repayment of DM 360 million of the subsidies by the Sachsenring group.

On December 18, 2000, ZMD GmbH was converted into an AG. With the support of a group of investors, ZMD AG was spun off from Sachsenring for 128 million euros on December 21, 2000 and has been an independent company again since then. The new owner is Global ASIC GmbH under the umbrella of Westdeutsche Genossenschafts-Beteiligungs GmbH, today VR Equity GmbH.

In connection with the layoffs of employees when the company was taken over by Sachsenring AG, employees were taken over by the QMF subsidiary. In 2004 the so-called QMF scandal was discussed in the press. As a witness, ZMDI was able to help clarify the matter.

Sale of semiconductor manufacturing

In 2005, the subsidiary Microelectronic Packaging Dresden, which packaged semiconductor chips in chip housings , was sold to the Berlin sensor manufacturer Silicon Sensors .

ZFOUNDRY was a wholly owned subsidiary of ZMD AG until March 2007 and, along with other foundries , manufactured a large part of the silicon wafers for ZMD. With the purchase of the company on March 29, 2007, X-FAB took over the former ZFOUNDRY. On February 15, 2007, X-FAB notified the Federal Cartel Office of the intended purchase of ZFOUNDRY . On March 9, 2007, the German Federal Cartel Office approved the planned takeover of ZFOUNDRY by X-FAB.

On March 26, 2007, a staff meeting took place at ZMD, at which the takeover of ZFOUNDRY by X-FAB was announced. ZFOUNDRY was incorporated into the X-FAB Group as a subsidiary, but continued to manufacture products for ZMD AG. A supply relationship was agreed. Since June 1, 2007, the former ZFOUNDRY has been operating under the name X-FAB Dresden and employs around 400 people. The ZMD AG became a " fabless company" with a further 65% added value. Only processed wafers and packages were purchased. This corresponds to the modern division of business models into foundry companies and product companies (fabless companies).

Operation as a fabless company and takeover by IDT

Since May 2009 ZMD AG has had a new logo "ZMDI®", the company name (company) is still "Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG". "Pink is the new green" enabling energy efficiency is the new slogan.

In 2012, ZMDI received various awards for its focus on energy efficiency. These include the Frost & Sullivan Award for the intelligent battery sensor circuit (" system in a package " in the world's smallest housing) as well as the prestigious silver Green Apple Award for the contribution to CO 2 reduction. ZMDI was also featured on the US Environmental Report television program starring Terry Bradshaw on CNN and the Fox News Channel .

ZMDI was taken over by Integrated Device Technology on December 7th, 2015 and incorporated into its corporate structure.

In addition to its headquarters in Dresden, the company had offices in Stuttgart , Milan , Paris , Milpitas (California, USA) and Boston (Massachusetts, USA) as well as in Tokyo ( Japan ), Taipei ( Republic of Taiwan ), Shenzhen ( People's Republic of China ) and in Pan Gyo ( South Korea ). ZMDI maintained design centers in Dresden, Stuttgart- Filderstadt- Bernhausen, Munich- Puchheim , in Limerick, Ireland, and in Varna and Sofia in Bulgaria . Most recently, ZMD had 333 employees worldwide, including around 180 engineers, who were mainly involved in product development.

The ZMD developments were used for sensors and actuators in automotive and industrial electronics, medical technology and barometric pressure sensors, for example in smartphones and tablets. The entry into digital power management began at the end of 2009. This product area supplied products for point-of-load applications in servers, network components and telecommunications infrastructure applications. The company had specialized in the definition, development and marketing of mixed analog-digital application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and mostly application-specific standard products (ASSP) for energy efficiency applications. In addition, it also developed mixed-signal - system-on-chip (SoC), especially as applications for the automotive industry ( " X-by-wire ") and focused on energy-efficient chips.

owner

From December 2000 to December 2015, ZMDI belonged to 64.9% of Global ASIC GmbH, 10% to the Free State of Saxony and 25.1% to Elber GmbH owned by Hans Vielbert . Thilo von Selchow has been the CEO of ZMD AG since 1999.

Silicon Saxony

As the so-called "founder and father of microelectronics" in Dresden, ZMD AG founded the association Silicon Saxony e. V. The long-standing chief executive Thilo von Selchow was a member of the board of Silicon Saxony and was chairman of the Silicon Saxony association from 2002 to 2006. In 2010 he was made an honorary member of Silicon Saxony and in 2012 he was named “Inventor of Silicon Europe”.

Former Employees

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chip company ZMDi in Dresden is considering going public on June 1, 2015
  2. ↑ a b Reinhardt Balzk, Jürgen Leibiger (ed.): Industrial history of the city of Dresden 1945–1990: Contributions to the 800th city anniversary. GNN Schkeuditz 2007, ISBN 3-89819-257-1 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Silicon Saxony eV (ed.): Silicon Saxony - the story . Communication Schnell Dresden 2006, p. 73 ISBN 3-9808680-2-8
  4. ↑ a b European Commission: "State aid no. NN 92/99 in favor of Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG - Saxony" , PDF file, decision of July 18, 2001
  5. ↑ a b Janko Tietz: Unparalleled sale . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 2008, p. 62-63 ( online ).
  6. ↑ IDT Completes Acquisition of ZMDI ( Memento from February 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 51 ° 7 '32.3 "  N , 13 ° 47' 6.3"  E