X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries GmbH

One focus of production is on mixed-signal chips. The task of these chips is to process signals from the real, analog world (e.g. light, temperature or speed) for further digital processing or - vice versa - to convert digital signals into analog signals.

Microchips manufactured at X-FAB are mainly used in automotive applications, but also in medical and industrial technology. On average, 16 chips "made by X-FAB" can be found in every new car built worldwide, although the number of chips in electric cars or hybrid models is sometimes even significantly higher. In principle, therefore, wherever sensors are needed that measure something (pressure, temperature, light, gas, etc.), the measurement result of which must then be converted into a digital signal. In a car, for example, these are the tire pressure sensors, airbag sensors or sensors that detect whether a seat in the vehicle is occupied. There are even window pane sensors that detect when a child's hand is between them and then stop the window from being raised.

The chips are also used in a variety of ways in medical technology: in X-ray and ultrasound equipment, in pacemakers and hearing aids, and even at points that stimulate the spinal cord or certain regions in the brain - where they make life easier for Parkinson's patients, for example. In the wake of the Corona pandemic, X-FAB's chips helped detect the Corona virus by measuring certain characteristics on fluids such as blood or saliva.

With six manufacturing sites on three continents (Europe, North America, Asia), X-FAB is a global company - with roots in Thuringia. For example, the company emerged from parts of the former GDR semiconductor combine VEB Mikroelektronik Karl Marx. The formal headquarters of the group holding company X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE is Tessenderio in Belgium, while the operational headquarters X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries GmbH is located in Erfurt's Southeast Industrial Park.