Background
The Fraunhofer Institute for Re-liability and Microintegration is internationally among the leading institutions in the field of microelectronic packaging. Core competencies are system integration, assembly and interconnection technologies, wafer level integration, material development, characterization and simulation, reliability studies and improvements, system design and environmental engineering.
Since 2001 Fraunhofer IZM has been investigating electronics integration into textiles with a strong focus on assembly and re-liability. With roughly a dozen projects until today, their commitment to this field has been steadily growing.
A New Lab
In 2009 a new lab was launched concentrating competencies and equipment for integrating electronics into textiles.
Experts on microelectronics, textiles, substrate technologies, fashion design, packaging, interconnection technologies, and reliability are working closely together, making this challenging field truly interdisciplinary.
Besides the many tools for assembly, reliability and analysis at IZM, additional equipment for textile processes and textile reliability tests has been installed. This includes a professional embroidery machine, a thermopress, a crimping machine, a washing machine for standardized testing and a tensile tester.
Projects
The focus is clearly on integration issues. However, there is a great diversity in the projects at TexLab due to their collaborative working style.
The projects involve applications for automotive interior, medical science, fashion design and logistics. Examples of current and past projects are:
