Deep-tech innovations require the convergence of many technologies, such as AI, material science, biology, and many more. But semiconductors are the ideal platform on which to integrate these deep-tech innovations. The miniaturization capability of semiconductor devices allows designers to incorporate massive complexity into extremely small form factors while accessing mass volume production techniques. And this leads to low-cost products. The COVID crisis has made it abundantly clear how dependent many industries have become on-chip availability.

For example, nanotechnology allows us to understand and manipulate that world in an entirely new way in life sciences. The neuropixel probe is a perfect example of this technology. It allows users to record the electrical activity from a massive number of individual neurons in parallel. (Image Source: Imec Tech Forum (ITF))