Our Vision
NaMLab is a world-leading technology research institute that explores innovative materials to extend the capabilities of semiconductor devices and drives these innovations towards industrial exploitation.
Our Mission
NaMLab conducts research that starts with a concrete vision of what features future electronics will need and seeks material-based solutions that enable new or significantly improved electronic device properties. The foundation is a thorough understanding of how fabrication processes, the structural and electrical properties of novel materials, and device behavior are related. Unlike traditional materials research groups, NaMLab prioritizes device applications and electrical behavior and collaborates with more traditional material research organizations on detailed structural investigations. This makes NaMLab the place to be for world-leading researchers in material-oriented device research and a top partner for industry in exploratory research on future electron devices. NaMLab’s research supports the grand challenges of Digitalization, Sustainability, Mobility, and Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, NaMLab is a cornerstone for securing semiconductor excellence in Europe and for educating young talent for research and industry.
Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Mikolajick
Scientific Director
Digitalization
In digital electronics, the fundamental unit of information is the bit, which is either 0 or 1. The simplicity of this concept is what allows us to build highly complex systems such as smartphones. As these devices become ever more present in our daily lives, low-cost and energy-efficient electronics are essential for a sustainable future. NaMLab combines its expertise in device and circuit research to enable new computing paradigms that go beyond the limits of conventional digital electronics. Materials with unique properties such as ferroelectricity, resistive switching, and polarity control are key to this, enabling disruptive concepts for non-volatile memory architectures and reconfigurable circuits. Non-volatile memories retain their data without power, so that unused parts of a system can be switched off and resume operation instantly, saving energy in everything from sensors to data centers. Reconfigurable transistors can change their function during operation, which allows certain logic functions to be realized with fewer devices and paves the way for computing concepts beyond fixed hardware. Following a vertical approach, NaMLab links its research tasks so that novel properties discovered at the material level flow directly into the design of innovative devices and circuits.
Sustainability
As technology becomes ever more pervasive in our daily lives, sustainability challenges demand increasing attention. Examples range from the carbon footprint of data centers running large language models to electronic waste caused by short device lifetimes. NaMLab considers sustainability along the entire chain from material development to device fabrication. Particular care is taken to reduce the use of critical raw materials, to track energy and water consumption in order to reduce waste, and to minimize the use of environmentally harmful solvents.
Beyond its own processes, NaMLab targets technological breakthroughs that help address sustainability challenges. The focus is on energy efficiency at two levels. At the device level, NaMLab develops ferroelectric non-volatile memories with extremely low programming energy. At the circuit level, it uses resistive switches and reconfigurable devices, which open promising paths towards energy-efficient computing architectures. Greater sustainability also means avoiding energy losses in power conversion, which becomes more important as the energy demand of electronic devices keeps growing. Higher conversion efficiency also extends the lifetime of electronic components. NaMLab therefore explores wide-bandgap materials such as gallium nitride to realize novel integrated devices with significantly higher power conversion efficiency.
Mobility
The way we move is changing fundamentally. Electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and increasingly automated driving are turning vehicles into computers on wheels, packed with power electronics, sensors, and microcontrollers. Semiconductor devices convert battery energy into motion, store the software that controls the vehicle, and process camera and radar data in real time. Their efficiency, reliability, and lifetime directly determine the range, safety, and cost of tomorrow’s mobility.
NaMLab contributes to this transition along the entire chain from material to device. In power electronics, wide-bandgap semiconductors such as gallium nitride and silicon carbide switch faster and with lower losses than conventional silicon. This enables smaller, lighter, and more efficient converters and chargers, which means longer driving range and shorter charging times. Vehicles also need memories that reliably retain data for many years under harsh conditions such as high temperatures. Ferroelectric hafnium oxide offers a path towards fast, energy-efficient non-volatile memories that can be integrated into standard chip manufacturing. Finally, connected and automated vehicles must process large amounts of sensor data on board and protect them against manipulation. Here, NaMLab’s research on reconfigurable devices and hardware security opens new options for compact, efficient, and trustworthy electronic systems.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday life, from voice assistants and translation tools to medical diagnostics and industrial quality control. Every AI application relies on an enormous number of computations on data stored in memory. In conventional computers, these data must constantly be moved between separate memory and processing units. This transfer often costs more time and energy than the calculation itself, and it is a major reason for the rapidly growing energy demand of AI.
The human brain shows another way: it stores and processes information in the same place and needs only about 20 watts to do so. Inspired by this principle, NaMLab explores in-memory and neuromorphic computing, where calculations take place directly where the data are stored. The key elements are devices whose electrical state can be tuned gradually and retained without power. Ferroelectric transistors and tunnel junctions based on hafnium oxide, as well as memristive devices based on resistive switching, can store analog values that act like the synaptic weights of an artificial neural network. Reconfigurable transistors, whose function can be changed during operation, add flexibility for compact and adaptive circuits. By linking materials research with device and circuit design, NaMLab works towards hardware that brings AI from large data centers into energy-efficient edge devices such as sensors, wearables, and vehicles, making AI more sustainable, faster, and more private.
Semiconductor Excellence for Europe
Semiconductor technology is a cornerstone of Europe’s economic growth, technological leadership, and political sovereignty. Chips underpin critical sectors such as energy, mobility, healthcare, communications, defense, and artificial intelligence. A resilient European semiconductor ecosystem reduces strategic dependencies, strengthens supply chains, and enables Europe to shape global technology standards. Microelectronics and materials research are essential building blocks of this strategy. They drive innovation in chip performance, efficiency, and sustainability, and they translate fundamental science into scalable technologies.
NaMLab explores novel devices for future semiconductor technologies that are either produced only outside Europe today or have not yet reached the market at all. As a research institute with a strong application focus, NaMLab preserves and expands knowledge in these fields. In doing so, it creates nuclei for local commercialization or for Europe’s re-entry into these technologies. This strengthens the European knowledge base needed to turn scientific excellence into industrial competitiveness and long-term strategic autonomy.
Education of Young Talents
Although NaMLab is not a teaching institution itself, educating young talent is an integral part of our work, as skilled people are vital for the local and European semiconductor industry. As an affiliated institute of TU Dresden, we work closely with the university, contributing to its electrical engineering programs and supervising students from their first lab course to their doctoral thesis. In our laboratories and cleanroom, students engage with real devices and industry-relevant questions, gaining experience along the entire chain from material to circuit. Beyond the university, we contribute to continuing education for specialists and spark curiosity about microelectronics early on through hands-on activities for school students and public events. Students and young professionals who would like to join our team can find current opportunities on our career page.
TEAM
NaMLab looks back on 20 years of history in 2026. In its first year, NaMLab started as a research organization with 10 employees focused on materials research for future memory devices. The company expanded steadily and today NaMLab has approximately 50 employees working in research and administration. Learn more about our history here.
Gender and Equality plan
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Gender Plan
