【Fontaine, Fr】Diamfab Inaugurates Production Line for Synthetic Diamond-Based Semiconductors

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Editor’s Note

This article highlights a significant milestone in European technology with the inauguration of Diamfab’s pioneering semiconductor production facility in Fontaine. The startup’s work in synthetic diamond-based chips represents a notable advancement in materials science and semiconductor manufacturing.

A European First

A production site for a new generation of semiconductors made from synthetic diamonds was inaugurated on January 16, 2026, in Fontaine, in the Grenoble region. At the helm is Diamfab, a start-up spun off from the CNRS and founded in 2019. The company currently employs 26 people and is continuing to hire.

The “Industrial Base”

The development work for this “industrial base,” as Gauthier Chicot, CEO and founder of Diamfab, calls it, took place between February and October 2025. The total cost of the work and equipment amounts to four million euros.
It involves a pre-existing 750 m² building completely reconfigured to house a pilot line within 150 m² of cleanroom space. This surface area is expected to be “at least” doubled by 2028 to achieve a production volume of several tens of thousands of wafers (four-inch) of semiconductor diamond per year.

Technical Superiority
© Thomas Richardson - L'équipe de la start-up Diamfab réunie à l'occasion de l'inauguration de la nouvelle "base industrielle" à Fontaine.

A diamond wafer contains “between four and 50 times more components” than a silicon carbide (SiC) wafer, the material traditionally used in semiconductors. Diamfab is involved in both synthesizing the semiconductor diamond wafers and designing the components.

Market Strategy
“This site is a first step,” says Gauthier Chicot. “We plan market access in three phases: starting now with initial niche markets (health, research…), then more strategic markets (space, nuclear…), and finally, by 2030, a very large market: electrical energy management. The latter will require a more substantial site to produce very large volumes.”

Gauthier Chicot specifies, however, that the Fontaine site will retain its importance for R&D.

Partnerships and Funding

Diamfab’s revenue ambitions remain confidential. The company counts numerous industrial partners including Schneider Electric, STMicroelectronics, Soitec, and Murata. It is also noteworthy that since its creation, Diamfab has raised 8.7 million euros.

© Infineon - Laurent Rémont arrivera chez Soitec le 16 mars, pour une période de transition avant sa prise de fonction comme directeur général.
Scientific Collaboration

On Friday, January 16, Diamfab, the CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, and Grenoble INP-UGA also inaugurated the creation of a joint laboratory named DiamLab within the Institut Néel. The objective of this collaboration, planned for five years, is:

“To overcome scientific and technological barriers in order to make synthetic diamond a reference semiconductor for power electronics.”
Exceptional Properties

Synthetic diamond possesses properties considered exceptional:

“It enables very high power in more compact and lightweight devices, while offering excellent performance under extreme conditions.”
© Thomas Raffoux - Les trois start-up lauréates du Grand Prix ACF AutoTech, dont la grenobloise Diamfab.

Furthermore, synthetic diamond is manufactured from methane and hydrogen, resources without geopolitical constraints that can be biosourced.

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⏰ Published on: January 19, 2026