April 5, 2011 — Semico chief of technology and blogger Tony Massimini looks at the AKU230 MEMS microphone from Akustica, and finds the tiny device trimmed down by use of semiconductor manufacturing processes rather than traditional MEMS fab.
From the Semico Spin blog:
"The AKU230 is manufactured using conventional CMOS processes. The microphone membrane is a metal/dielectric layer, manufactured just like every other metal/dielectric layer in a CMOS process. The ADC circuitry is located around the membrane and is fabricated at the same time as the membrane during the same conventional CMOS processes. This approach offers savings in silicon area compared to a MEMS microphone fabricated using more traditional MEMS processes.
Some MEMS microphones have an analog audio output. Some have an analog audio output but can provide a digital output using a second semiconductor, essentially an ADC. Akustica MEMS microphones, including the AKU230, are the only MEMS microphones that combine the microphone and the ADC circuitry on one chip, offering a simpler, less expensive solution and one insertion cost rather than two."
Read more from Massimini in his post, "Akustica AKU230: A Tiny Microphone with Huge Potential," at http://www.mapmodel.com/index.php/2011/03/30/akustica-aku230-a-tiny-microphone-with-huge-potential/
Also read "Akustica digital microphone uses smallest fully integrated MEMS"
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