Understanding and reducing environmental impacts in semiconductor manufacturing through Life-Cycle Assessment

/ Understanding and reducing environmental impacts in semiconductor manufacturing through Life-Cycle Assessment

Understanding and reducing environmental impacts in semiconductor manufacturing through Life-Cycle Assessment

Research novel life-cycle assessment models to improve the state of the art understanding of chip manufacturing sustainability.

The semiconductor industry is growing rapidly, as society becomesincreasingly digitalized, connected, and electrified. At the same time, continuedimprovements in chip performance require increasingly complex manufacturingprocesses, involving more process steps, materials and chemicals, and purityrequirements. Those trends are compounding the industry’s energy, water, andmaterial consumption, as well as its waste and emissions.

To integrate environmental sustainability “by design” into chiptechnology development, imec collaborates with key players from across thevalue chain to assess and improve the sustainability of the semiconductorindustry. This endeavour requires a tool able to estimate the impacts from thecomplex supply chain and manufacturing processes involved. This is why imec develops imec.netzero , a virtual fab modelthat simulates high-volume manufacturing semiconductor device fabs, quantifyingall related flows (materials, energy, water, emissions) and their environmentalimpacts across the lifecycle. This bottom-up model quantifies the impact ofexisting and emerging technologies, determines key environmental hotspots, and evaluatesmitigation options. It is consequently actively used by the industry to developand execute sustainability strategies.

Objective

In this internship, you will contribute to the Life-Cycle Assessment(LCA) models inside imec.netzero, improving the completeness and robustness of chipmanufacturing sustainability quantification. In particular, you will researchand develop novel LCA models for aspects of chip manufacturing which are notcomprehensively characterized today. Depending on your interest and background,possible topics include:

• Equipment and fab infrastructure manufacturing
• Supply chain for specialty gases or otherhigh-purity materials
• Modelling cleanroom purity requirements or on-sitegas fabrication (e.g. hydrogen)
• Direct emissions to air (or water) fromsemiconductor fabs (e.g. NOx, VOCs, PM)

Responsibilities

• You will align with the research team to selectan LCA research gap to address (e.g. from the list above)
• You will research existing literature, models, andbenchmarking data relevant to filling this gap
• You will develop LCA models, building on thisevidence and justified assumptions
• You will document and present the resultingmodels to the research team and iterate based on their feedback
• Optional responsibilities based on studentinterest:
• You will implement your models directly into theimec.netzero codebase
• You will perform sensitivity analyses and proposeimpact mitigation options

Who you are:

Applicants are expected to have some experience (and aremotivated to enhance their skills) in the following areas:

• LCA for hotspot analysis and mitigationstrategies
• Industrial process modelling or engineering,ideally in semiconductor manufacturing
• [Optional] Python programming

Type of internship: Master internship

Duration: 4-6 months

Required educational background: Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Electrotechnics/Electrical Engineering, Electromechanical engineering, Physics, Energy, Other

The reference code for this position is 2026-INT-281. Mention this reference code in your application.

Applications should include the following information:

• resume
• motivation
• current study

Context

The semiconductor industry is growing rapidly, as society becomesincreasingly digitalized, connected, and electrified. At the same time, continuedimprovements in chip performance require increasingly complex manufacturingprocesses, involving more process steps, materials and chemicals, and purityrequirements. Those trends are compounding the industry’s energy, water, andmaterial consumption, as well as its waste and emissions.

To integrate environmental sustainability “by design” into chiptechnology development, imec collaborates with key players from across thevalue chain to assess and improve the sustainability of the semiconductorindustry. This endeavour requires a tool able to estimate the impacts from thecomplex supply chain and manufacturing processes involved. This is why imec develops imec.netzero , a virtual fab modelthat simulates high-volume manufacturing semiconductor device fabs, quantifyi