04/09/2008  EMC^3D, an international semiconductor equipment and materials consortium dedicated to the cost-effective development of 3D through silicon via (TSV) interconnects, announced the addition of Datacon Technology to the organization. Datacon, manufacturer of die bonding & sorting equipment will provide high-precision assembly expertise to the consortium.

04/09/2008  Mobius Microsystems, Inc. has introduced what it calls "the world's most accurate, monolithic, all-CMOS frequency generators." Mobius hopes its products will displace quartz crystals, which have been the industry standard for decades, plus newer MEMS-based devices -- as Small Times' Barbara Goode reports.

04/09/2008  MEMS-based oscillators are at last beginning to leave the shelves in quantity, says German technology analyst firm Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC), which was recently acquired by market-research rival iSuppli.

04/08/2008  Tronics Microsystems, the MEMS foundry that stirred controversy last Fall when it claimed that its profitability "validates the pure-play MEMS foundry model," now says it has achieved a 56% increase in annual revenue, to 10.5 million Euros ($15.4 million), in its fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2007. The company's net profit represents 12% of total revenue.

04/04/2008  Tessera Technologies, Inc. provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, and Kronos Advanced Technologies, Inc. developer of ionic- based products and technologies for air movement and purification, announced the sale and licensing of certain intellectual property (IP) rights related to Kronos proprietary technologies to Tessera.

03/28/2008  Mar. 28, 2008 - After growing at a 9% CAGR over the past five years, demand for MEMS-based semiconductor sensors and actuators is expected to accelerate to 19% CAGR through 2012, as emerging MEMS technologies find traction in new markets and applications, according to a report by IC Insights. The firm projects MEMS sensors/actuator sales will increase to $9.7B by 2012, vs. $4.1B in 2007.

03/19/2008  Surface Technology Systems plc (STS), which deals with plasma process technologies required in the manufacturing and packaging of MEMS and advanced electronic devices, has sold a Pegasus Deep Reactive Ion Etch (DRIE) tool to the Institut für Halbleiter- und Mikrosystemtechnik (IHM, or Semiconductor & Microsystems Technology Laboratory).

03/18/2008  Mar. 18, 2008 - The silicon MEMS microphone sector grew 12.4% in 2007 to 238M units, well off the pace of the prior two years (2005-2006) where installations doubled to account for 20% of mobile phones manufactured, due to a drop in cell phone growth and converged devices, according to a new report from The Information Network.

03/17/2008  Silicon MEMS microphone installations, which doubled between 2005 and 2006 to reach 20% of mobile phones manufactured, stalled in 2007, according to The Information Network (TIN).

03/01/2008  compiled by Jason Andrukaitis

02/27/2008  Angstrom Aerospace is using an MRAM device from Freescale Semiconductor as part of a MEMS subsystem aboard a Japanese research satellite.

02/20/2008  The delicacy of MEMS structures makes dicing these devices tricky business. Current approaches to overcoming these challenges involve additional manufacturing steps and processes. Novel approaches that call for adaptation to the dicing equipment rather than the devices themselves may be a better solution.

02/18/2008  Ecliptek Corp.'s new IBIS (I/O-buffer-information-specification) models enable device designers to perform signal integrity simulations of MEMS clock oscillators. The model presents transient (voltage versus time) and DC (current versus time) data for the MEMS components.

02/12/2008  Measurement Specialties has introduced its model 3801A and 4801A hermetically sealed MEMS accelerometers meant for harsh environments.

02/04/2008  February 4, 2008 -- /WARRINGTON, PA/ -- Tiger Optics LLC, a leading manufacturer of laser-based trace gas and ambient monitors, today announced that it has received patents rights from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for five new innovations of the company's patented continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CW CRDS) technology.

02/01/2008  ; Following a successful series of events held in Europe, MEMUNITY has announced its eighth workshop under the title "Critical Success Factors for Commercialization: Production Test of MEMS at Wafer Level". The workshop will be held on March 13 at the Institute for Microelectronic and Micromechanical Systems (IMMS) in Ilmenau, Germany.

01/31/2008  A new report by market research firm Yole Développement ranks the top MEMS manufacturers of 2007. "Nine companies are above $200 million sales, compared to only four companies two years ago," said Jean Christophe Eloy, Yole's founder.

01/28/2008  Research and Markets has announced the availability of a new book, Reliability of MEMS.

01/22/2008  Falco Systems' new WMA-01 and WMA-01LF high-voltage amplifiers are designed for applications such as MEMS devices and PZT (piezo) positioning systems. They support a wide voltage range and can be battery powered.

01/17/2008  ; Freescale Semiconductor has established an advanced microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) 200-mm (8-inch) production line to address growing sensors market demand. The newly added line at Freescale's Oak Hill Fab in Austin, TX, complements the company's existing 150-mm (6-inch) MEMS capacity in Sendai, Japan.