Deep Dive: Inside the semiconductor ecosystem
This article is part of the Deep Dive Series and offer in-depth perspectives on specific parts of the semiconductor ecosystem. It focuses on technologies, tools and methods that enable development and production.
Semiconductor Arena in Kista brings together the Swedish semiconductor ecosystem, spanning scaleups and established companies as well as academia and research institutes. What unites these actors is a shared ambition to strengthen Sweden’s position in the semiconductor field — nationally, across Europe and globally.
Sweden’s knowledge base is already strong, but the challenge lies in turning technical expertise into industrial capacity at scale. One clear example of how this transition has been achieved is Silex Microsystems, which today is the world’s largest pure-play MEMS foundry.
At a gathering in Semiconductor Arena, the company’s CTO and co-founder, Niklas Svedin, shared Silex’s journey from its early days at KTH and Electrum Lab to its current role in the global MEMS market.
It began at the university
Niklas Svedin entered the semiconductor field in the 1990s as a student at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In 2000, he co-founded Silex Microsystems, specialising in Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS), with its main founder and current CEO, Edvard Kälvesten, and three colleagues.
The company emerged at a moment when MEMS technology was advancing and application areas were broadening, from thermal printheads in the 1980s to airbag sensors and micromirrors for projectors in the 1990s. Today, MEMS can be found across nearly all modern electronics.
“One of the key success factors was Electrum Lab, which provided a great opportunity to start a business,” says Niklas Svedin. “With a good model and tools from KTH, together with the fact that we had a customer project from the start, we were able to start up with revenue from day one.”
Electrum provided access to lithography equipment and enabled the team to move directly from concept to commercial production without setting up their own facility.
What sets MEMS apart from traditional chips
Traditional semiconductor circuits process electrical signals. MEMS, by contrast, integrate microscopic mechanical structures directly into a silicon chip. They do not only compute — they sense and respond to the physical world. A MEMS device may contain moving beams, vibrating masses or tiny mirrors that react to pressure, acceleration, light or flow.
This direct interaction with physics is the essential difference. Where a conventional circuit estimates a parameter through computation, a MEMS device measures it directly, resulting in higher accuracy and lower energy consumption.
MEMS also scale exceptionally well at the microscale. As structures shrink, they become faster, more responsive and more stable. And because MEMS are manufactured using the same cleanroom processes as the broader semiconductor industry, they can be tightly integrated with electronics and packaged into compact, robust components.
These characteristics have made MEMS central to applications ranging from consumer electronics and automotive systems to medical technologies and industrial monitoring – areas that are increasingly important to Sweden’s and Europe’s technological resilience.
A flexible approach to design
One reason Silex has become a preferred foundry partner is its flexible model. While many foundries rely on fixed key technologies, often defined in “nanometres” to indicate the density of critical dimensions, and strict process design kits (PDKs), Silex maintains a more open approach.
“We see no need to force customers to design their solutions according to strict libraries, design rules or key technologies,” says Niklas Svedin. “Of course, we support that for customers who come to us with a complete design ready to be manufactured, but we are equally happy to help tailor the best possible solution for their needs.”
Customers can present what they want to build, and Silex supports the process of adapting the design for their manufacturing flow and full-scale production. This model is well suited to a technology area where applications and requirements vary widely.
Talent as an ongoing challenge
Talent availability remains a national bottleneck for Sweden’s semiconductor ambitions, and a growing company like Silex feels this directly. As the company approaches 500 employees, the need for additional talent continues to increase.
Because the pool of experienced engineers is limited, Silex often hires directly from universities and trains new talent internally in the production environment. Niklas Svedin says the company invests significant time in developing newly graduated engineers and building this competence from the ground up to support its continued growth.
A Swedish success story
Today, Silex Microsystems stands as the world’s leading pure-play MEMS foundry. Growth is strong across all major segments: industrial applications, telecom and optics, life science and medical devices, automotive and consumer electronics.
In the consumer sector, demand is driven by technologies such as inertial sensors, audio MEMS and optical stabilisation — essential components in smartphones, VR headsets, gaming consoles and high-performance audio devices.
In industrial settings, MEMS enable advanced condition monitoring by capturing subtle changes in vibration, ultrasound or thermal behaviour. By detecting these deviations early – long before a component fails – MEMS make early failure detection possible, reducing downtime, cost and operational risk.
Silex offers a clear example of what Sweden is capable of within the semiconductor field. But scaling this capability requires collective effort. Semiconductor Arena aims to be the platform where organisations meet to strengthen Sweden’s and Europe’s role in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Do you want to get involved? Reach out to hanna.eldh@kistasciencecity.com
Semiconductor Arena is co-funded by the European Union and Region Stockholm, and is run by Kista Science City, KTH, RISE and Sting.
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