February 19, 2004 – UK-based AML said it is abandoning the foundry model for fabricating MEMS devices, calling it a “flawed concept” and “not flexible enough” to meet its demands, and is reverting back to in-house fabrication.

The company will focus on low-volume production, and farm out specialist processes such as glass micromachining to suppliers. AML cited a lack of standard MEMS processes, and claimed foundries’ existing processes are too inflexible to cater to MEMS device requirements — the company estimated only 2% of MEMS requirements would be achievable.

“CMOS MEMS will never be able to truly unleash the breadth of MEMS in terms of structures and materials due to the restrictions CMOS processing applies,” said Rob Santilli, adding that device design and fabrication are “inextricably linked.”