Sweden must turn semiconductor expertise into industry

We export knowledge but all too often import the value creation. At a time characterised by geopolitical tensions and vulnerable supply chains, this is ultimately about autonomy and technological sovereignty: our ability to secure access to the critical components on which our society, competitiveness and security depend.

At RISE, we have worked in the semiconductor field for more than 35 years. By driving the development of silicon carbide (SiC)-based power electronics and providing open innovation environments, we act as a bridge between academia and commercial industry. It is precisely here, in the step from the laboratory to scalable production, that Sweden’s greatest challenge and opportunity lie. A large part of our mission at RISE is to increase the technology readiness level in an environment that mirrors industrial requirements. Without that opportunity, otherwise promising innovations often stall before reaching large-scale production and creating Swedish jobs.

Scaling up: the key to future energy systems

The need for industrial scale-up is significant across many fields, but energy and power semiconductors are particularly interesting because they represent one of the few technology areas where Europe still holds strong positions across much of the value chain. With leading expertise in materials, power electronics and industrial applications, there is an opportunity to build complete European value chains and new industrial ventures.

Critical functions are not only built into energy systems, vehicles or data centres. They are built into semiconductors. This is why investments in semiconductor capacity are investments in Europe’s future competitiveness and resilience.

Advanced power electronics based on wide-bandgap materials make it possible to reduce losses and combine several conversion stages into more efficient systems. Increasing the efficiency of the world’s power conversion by just a single percentage point would deliver enormous global environmental benefits and reduce wasted heat.

Here Sweden has a long-standing world-class expertise, but manufacturing needs to take place to a greater extent on home soil in order to secure:

• Robust electricity grid distribution: Significantly reduces losses when integrating renewable electricity and long-distance transmission (HVDC).
• Swedish e-mobility: Enables faster charging, lower weight and longer range.
• Efficient process industries: Cuts hidden energy losses through upgraded drive systems.

Without domestic production, we risk new and uncertain import dependencies that slow down our electrification efforts.

A national strategy for strategic niches

The recently published IVA report, to which RISE contributed, clearly highlights Sweden’s strengths in research and innovation, but also the structural weaknesses in taking technology all the way to industrial scale.

This view is widely shared within Semiconductor Sweden, where industry, academia and public sector actors have jointly developed a strategic direction for strengthening Sweden’s position in semiconductors.

One key conclusion is that it is not enough to be strong in the early stages of research. The decisive issue is our ability to scale technology.

The discussion highlights exactly why initiatives such as Lab2Fab are needed. For technologies like SiC power electronics, the critical challenge is often not invention but industrialisation. By creating stronger scale-up environments and pilot manufacturing capabilities, we can accelerate the journey from research to market while strengthening Europe's semiconductor value chain.

In a global race characterised by massive international subsidies, Sweden must secure its own supply chains. We should not compete for generic megafabs but capitalise on the niches where we already lead: power electronics, photonics, advanced sensors, high-frequency technologies and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

Sweden is highly successful at starting companies, but the conditions for retaining hardware manufacturing need to be strengthened. Capital and operations move to where the conditions for doing business are most favourable, and without the right environment, companies will relocate from Sweden to other countries both within and outside Europe. The critical issue is our ability to scale technology and retain value creation in Sweden.

What is required to reverse the trend

Three things are critical if we are to reverse this trend:

• Industrial development and infrastructure
Sweden needs development environments focused on repeatability and process control, where the entire chain from materials to demonstrators and qualification can be managed.

• Long-term investment
Semiconductors are capital-intensive and require persistence. Infrastructure must be regarded as a strategic investment.

• Faster pathways to scale-up
Sweden must become better at taking technology from research to industrial production. The decisive challenge is not a lack of research, but a lack of ability to scale technology and retain value creation in Sweden.

This requires a stronger institute layer with the mandate, resources and long-term commitment needed to take technology all the way from the laboratory to production. Sweden needs integrated development, testing and scale-up environments that can reduce risk, increase technology readiness and enable industry to invest.

Semiconductors are among the most capital-intensive technology sectors in the world. Research and innovation infrastructure must therefore be viewed as a strategic national investment, not as a short-term project cost. Technological competitiveness, security of supply and industrial development will require sustained investment over time.

Sweden has strong research, a competitive industrial base and favourable conditions for taking a leading position in semiconductors. But favourable conditions alone are not enough. What is required is a modern industrial policy, long-term investment and an innovation system capable of taking technology all the way from research to competitive production. This means strong and proactive action from research, policymakers and industry alike, working together to make the most of and build on Sweden’s strengths with a clearer focus on industrial scale-up.

At RISE, we look forward to working together with policymakers and industry to take decisive action in building competitive technological sovereignty in Sweden. The question of whether the value creation of the future takes place in Sweden or elsewhere will be decided now.

Björn Samel
Vice President, Emerging Hardware Technologies, RISE