The Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL) Joint Undertaking announced the Lab4MEMS project as the winner of its 2016 Innovation Award during the European Nanoelectronics Forum, in Rome, Italy.
At its launch in January 2014, Lab4MEMS was identified as a Key Enabling Technology Pilot-Line project for next-generation Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices augmented with advanced technologies such as piezoelectric or magnetic materials and 3D packaging to enhance the next generation of smart sensors, actuators, micro-pumps, and energy harvesters. These technologies were recognized as important contributors to future data-storage, printing, healthcare, automotive, industrial-control, and smart-building applications, as well as consumer applications such as smartphones and navigation devices.
In accepting the award, Roberto Zafalon, General Project Coordinator of Lab4MEMS and the European Programs Manager in R&D and Public Affairs for STMicroelectronics Italy said, “The ECSEL Innovation Award highlights the excellent results the Lab4MEMS team achieved through the project’s execution and the high impact of its successes. In particular, Lab4MEMS developed innovative MEMS solutions with advanced piezoelectric and magnetic materials, including advanced 3D Packaging technologies.”
In coordinating the €28m[1], 36-month Lab4MEMS project, ST led the team of twenty partners, which included universities, research institutions, and technology businesses across ten European countries. ST’s MEMS facilities in Italy and Malta contributed their complete set of manufacturing competencies for next-generation devices, spanning design and fabrication to test and packaging to the project.
Lab4MEMS’ devices, technologies, and application improvements emphasized:
- Micro-actuators, micro-pumps, sensors, and energy scavengers integrated on silicon-based MEMS using piezoelectric thin-films (PZT), for applications in Data Storage, Printing, Health Care, Automotive, Energy Scavenging, and Autofocus Lenses.
- Magnetic-field sensors, for applications in consumer applications such as GPS positioning, indoor navigation, and mobile phones.
- Advanced packaging technologies and vertical interconnections, including flip chip, Through Silicon Via (TSV) or Through Mold Via (TMV) for full 3D integration, which could be used in Consumer and Healthcare applications such as body-area sensors and remote monitoring.
All of these successes contributed to the Lab4MEMS project and are available to benefit the contributors. These participants were Politecnico di Torino (Italy); Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italy); Politecnico di Milano (Italy); Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per la Nanoelettronica (Italy); Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux énergies alternatives (France); SERMA Technologies SA (France); STMicroelectronics Ltd. (Malta); Universita ta Malta (Malta); Solmates BV (Netherlands); Cavendish Kinetics BV (Netherlands); Okmetic OYJ (Finland); VTT (Finland); Picosun OY (Finland); KLA-Tencor ICOS (Belgium); Universitatea Politehnica din Bucuresti (Romania); Instytut Technologii Elektronowej (Poland); Stiftelsen SINTEF (Norway); Sonitor Technologies AS (Norway); BESI GmbH (Austria).