Luftaufnahme vom ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology Standort Oberkochen

More space, more jobs: In order to meet the high demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, ZEISS is expanding its capacities at almost all sites.

Whether Industry 4.0, autonomous driving or 5G: megatrends of our time require more and more microchips, which must also become ever smaller, more powerful and more energy-efficient. ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) manufactures the high-precision optics for the lithography systems used to produce the most advanced microchips. With High-NA-EUV lithography, the technology for the next generation of microchips is already on its way. In order to meet the enormous market demand, we are investing in new buildings, reconstructions, and expansions: Capacities are being expanded at almost all sites. The segment is also growing in terms of people: the number of ZEISS SMT employees has tripled in the past seven years and continues to grow. There are numerous interesting vacancies on our ZEISS careers page. In order to have space for the innovations of the future and all the creative minds, we are actively expanding at almost all sites, as the following overview shows:

Picture from above on the site of ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Oberkochen, Baden-Württemberg

Oberkochen: South factory – twice the size

The groundbreaking ceremony took place in 2001, and today the ZEISS south factory in Oberkochen is considered the most modern lithography optics center in the world. Six major new construction projects are currently running in parallel on the site. In addition to new production areas, office space for employees in production-related areas and an office building with an additional company restaurant are being built. Since the ground-breaking ceremony for the south factory more than 20 years ago, the site has steadily expanded.

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We are currently in the biggest ramp-up in ZEISS SMT's history and will expand the south factory in Oberkochen by more than 25,000 square meters of production space.

Stefan-Albrecht Müller

Head of Central Infrastructure at ZEISS SMT
The new High-Tech Site Jena of the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Jena

Jena: Major construction project HTSJ

The founding location of ZEISS is currently being expanded into the High-Tech Site Jena (HTSJ). All ZEISS segments and the majority of the local production and administration departments will be located in a new building in the future. An important milestone was the completion of the two floor plates for the strategic business unit Semiconductor Mask Solutions (SMS) within the semiconductor segment ZEISS SMT and for the ZEISS strategic business unit Research Microscopy Solutions (RMS) at the beginning of May 2024. The plates had to be concreted in one piece to ensure that they fulfilled specific vibration characteristics. A total of 14,600 cubic meters of concrete were poured over ten days. With the solutions from the SMS unit, semiconductor customers benefit from flawless photomasks of the highest quality. The portfolio also includes solutions for measuring, inspecting and repairing photomasks.

Multifunctional factory of ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Wetzlar

Wetzlar: new multifunctional factory

The central Hessian town has been a ZEISS production site for DUV lithography optics for more than 20 years. A new multifunctional factory is now being built in the Dillfeld industrial park to complement the existing site in the city center of Wetzlar. Covering several thousand square meters, the new facility offers flexible working and production areas for optics, coating, and assembly of the precise optics used to expose microchips.

At the groundbreaking of the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Rossdorf are five mannager standing at the new ground of the company

Rossdorf: additional cleanroom space

The research and development site in Hessen is also growing: by the end of 2026, 300 square meters of cleanroom space will be added for the SMS strategic business unit, which is based there, an increase of 50 percent compared to the status quo. In addition, the existing building will be extensively modernized, and the logistics hall and parking areas will also be expanded.

A look from outside of the building on the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology new site in Aachen

Aachen: new site

ZEISS SMT has also been represented in the North Rhine-Westphalian city since February 2024. The Aachen site of Philips Engineering Solutions (PES) was integrated into the semiconductor segment of ZEISS. The takeover was preceded by a very close collaboration with a shared passion for precision: PES has proven itself as a supplier in the field of optical metrology. The measuring machines from Aachen ensure precision in the nanometer range in the production of microchips. Currently there are working around 40 employees at the site. This number of is set to increase in the coming years.

Bar Lev: more clean room

At the Israeli site in Bar Lev, ZEISS SMT manufactures mask tuning systems, including the ZEISS ForTune and the ZEISS ForTune EUV. The team now has more space to do this, as the premises have been converted so that an additional 70 square meters of cleanroom space has been available since February 2024.

Arizona: closer to the customer

In order to provide even better support to customers in the US, the SMS strategic business unit has opened a new service location in the state of Arizona. One customer is the Taiwanese global market leader TSMC, which will open a new semiconductor plant in Phoenix (Arizona) in 2025. TSMC plans to build two more plants at the same location by 2030.

Ramp up of the ZEISS SMT wit a view from above on the site Oberkochen

Building is also about precision

ZEISS SMT's buildings and construction projects have to meet high standards. In addition to the high vibration requirements of the buildings, which require a solid construction and ensure precision in optics production, the factories are comparable to large machines. The technical building equipment of the clean rooms with filter units and large ventilation units is particularly demanding. In addition, the construction work must not interfere with current production, especially as the fine measurement technology is extremely sensitive to disruptions caused by earthworks or demolition work on the construction sites. In order to speed up the construction phase and reduce construction costs on site, we rely heavily on prefabrication, especially for the shell. To achieve this, all prefabricated parts must be perfectly coordinated. We use a sophisticated transport and logistics concept to ensure that everything runs smoothly on site.

With our new construction and reconstruction projects, we are creating the conditions to be prepared for the future. To enable chip manufacturers to produce even smaller, more powerful and more energy-efficient microchips. Fot the next technological leap.

Ready for the future

Weltkarte in blau und weiß mit Deutschland im Fokus
Oberkochen

In addition to new production areas, office space for employees in production-related areas and an office building with an additional company restaurant are currently being built at the ZEISS south factory in Oberkochen.

Jena

The new High-Tech Site Jena (HTSJ) offers space for the Semiconductor Mask Solutions (SMS) strategic business unit of the ZEISS SMT semiconductor segment and for the ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions (RMS) strategic business unit, among others.

Wetzlar

The new multifunctional factory in the Dillfeld industrial park offers additional space for optics, coating and assembly and will complement the existing site in Wetzlar city center.

Arizona

In order to provide even better support to customers in the USA, the SMS strategic business unit has opened a new service location in the state of Arizona.

Bar Lev

At its Israeli site in Bar Lev, ZEISS SMT manufactures mask tuning systems, among other things. Remodeling work in recent months has created new clean room space for this.

Rossdorf

The Rossdorf research and development site is being expanded further. By the end of 2026, 300 square meters of cleanroom space will be added for the SMS strategic business unit, which is based there.

Aachen

In February 2024, ZEISS SMT took over the Aachen site from Philips Engineering Solutions (PES). The number of employees at the site is set to increase in the coming years.

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Author Stefan-Albrecht Müller Head of Central Infrastructure at ZEISS SMT