Category Archives: Packaging and Testing

Although shipments of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors used in automotive applications grew 8.4 percent in 2015, revenues were flat compared to the previous year, reaching $2.7 billion. In contrast, the value of this market is expected to recover this year, rising 4.3 percent to reach $2.8 billion in 2016, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

The automotive MEMS market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9 percent from 2015 to 2022, to reach $3.2 billion in 2022. Global shipments will exceed two billion units for the first time at the end of this period, according to the IHS Markit Automotive Sensor Intelligence Service.

“Just three types of MEMS devices used in the automotive industry account for more than 95 percent of market value: pressure sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes,” said Richard Dixon, principal analyst, automotive sensors, IHS Markit. “The primary systems relying on these devices are electronic stability control systems, airbags, tire-pressure monitors and manifold absolute-pressure sensors, although IHS tracks 34 other automotive MEMS applications.”

While these markets will remain, by their nature, still relatively small by 2022, the fastest growing volume applications in the coming years will include the detection of pedestrians, air-intake humidity measurement, microphones for hands-free calling in infotainment systems and microbolometers for night-vision systems used in driver assistance. New sensor areas on the horizon include scanning mirrors for head-up displays and adaptive LED headlights.

Top 10 automotive MEMS sensor suppliers

For second-tier suppliers of automotive sensors, 2015 was a good year. However, significant devaluations of the Euro and Yen affected the businesses of several companies. Leading Germany-based sensor supplier Robert Bosch was among the companies hit by exchange rate weakness, but its business continues to soar in local currency and shipments.

Sensata followed Bosch in the second-ranked position, exhibiting subdued 2015 revenue growth, despite last year’s acquisition of CST, including the sensor business of Kavlico. Along with its strong position in powertrain pressure sensors, Sensata benefits from its high-profile acquisition of Schrader, which made it the leading supplier of tire pressure monitors.

A name new to the MEMS sensor business is NXP, whose acquisition of Freescale last year catapulted the company into third-ranked position. NXP is known for its automotive magnetic sensors, while pressure sensors and accelerometers are the key sensors brought to the company via the Freescale acquisition.

The remaining seven companies also showed subdued results, with Japanese companies like Denso (ranked fourth) and Panasonic (ranked sixth). Both companies were adversely affected by the continued softness of the Yen.

Top_MEMS_Suppliers_IHS

It looks like a small piece of transparent film with tiny engravings on it, and is flexible enough to be bent into a tube. Yet, this piece of “smart” plastic demonstrates excellent performance in terms of data storage and processing capabilities. This novel invention, developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), hails a breakthrough in the flexible electronics revolution, and brings researchers a step closer towards making flexible, wearable electronics a reality in the near future.

Associate Professor Yang Hyunsoo from the National University of Singapore, who led a research team to successfully embed a powerful magnetic memory chip on a plastic material, demonstrating the flexibility of the memory chip. Credit: National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Yang Hyunsoo from the National University of Singapore, who led a research team to successfully embed a powerful magnetic memory chip on a plastic material, demonstrating the flexibility of the memory chip. Credit: National University of Singapore

The technological advancement is achieved in collaboration with researchers from Yonsei University, Ghent University and Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. The research team has successfully embedded a powerful magnetic memory chip on a flexible plastic material, and this malleable memory chip will be a critical component for the design and development of flexible and lightweight devices. Such devices have great potential in applications such as automotive, healthcare electronics, industrial motor control and robotics, industrial power and energy management, as well as military and avionics systems.

The research team, led by Associate Professor Yang Hyunsoo of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the NUS Faculty of Engineering, published their findings in the journal Advanced Materials on 6 July 2016.

Flexible, high-performance memory devices a key enabler for flexible electronics 

Flexible electronics has become the subject of active research in recent times. In particular, flexible magnetic memory devices have attracted a lot of attention as they are the fundamental component required for data storage and processing in wearable electronics and biomedical devices, which require various functions such as wireless communication, information storage and code processing.

Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on different types of memory chips and materials, there are still significant challenges in fabricating high performance memory chips on soft substrates that are flexible, without sacrificing performance.

To address the current technological challenges, the research team, led by Assoc Prof Yang, developed a novel technique to implant a high-performance magnetic memory chip on a flexible plastic surface.

The novel device operates on magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), which uses a magnesium oxide (MgO)-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) to store data. MRAM outperforms conventional random access memory (RAM) computer chips in many aspects, including the ability to retain data after a power supply is cut off, high processing speed, and low power consumption.

Novel technique to implant MRAM chip on a flexible plastic surface

The research team first grew the MgO-based MTJ on a silicon surface, and then etched away the underlying silicon. Using a transfer printing approach, the team implanted the magnetic memory chip on a ?exible plastic surface made of polyethylene terephthalate while controlling the amount of strain caused by placing the memory chip on the plastic surface.

Assoc Prof Yang said, “Our experiments showed that our device’s tunneling magnetoresistance could reach up to 300 per cent – it’s like a car having extraordinary levels of horsepower. We have also managed to achieve improved abruptness of switching. With all these enhanced features, the flexible magnetic chip is able to transfer data faster.”

Commenting on the significance of the breakthrough, Assoc Prof Yang said, “Flexible electronics will become the norm in the near future, and all new electronic components should be compatible with flexible electronics. We are the first team to fabricate magnetic memory on a flexible surface, and this significant milestone gives us the impetus to further enhance the performance of flexible memory devices and contribute towards the flexible electronics revolution.”

Assoc Prof Yang and his team were recently granted United States and South Korea patents for their technology. They are conducting experiments to improve the magnetoresistance of the device by fine-tuning the level of strain in its magnetic structure, and they are also planning to apply their technique in various other electronic components. The team is also interested to work with industry partners to explore further applications of this novel technology.

Unisem reported it recently shipped its one billionth packaged MEMS device and continues to invest capex in both MEMS assembly equipment and the development of additional factory floor space for this expanding market.

With MEMS device revenues forecasted to grow from 11.9 Billion USD in 2015 to 20 Billion USD by 2021 (Yole), Unisem sees MEMS as a strategic part of their technology and growth plans moving forward. With over 9 years of experience developing MEMS packaging solutions, Unisem estimates that their MEMS unit volumes will grow by over 50 percent over the next 12 months.
Part of Unisem’s growth strategy for MEMS packaging includes the dedication of additional factory floor space. In its factory in Chengdu, China, the company has recently completed the installation and certification of a 1200 sq. meter class 100 clean room to support the assembly needs of MEMS microphones, combination cavity packages, and other devices that either require or benefit from this level of controlled environment.

In addition to the new class 100 clean room, Unisem also has brought in Film Assisted Molding capability to support the expansion of their MEMS molded cavity package offerings. Film Assisted Molding allows Unisem to target both the automotive and industrial MEMS pressure sensor market as well as the growing market for consumer pressure, humidity, temperature, gas sensors and combinations of these. This technology enables Unisem to use leadframe based packages and to mold the sensor device itself leaving only the sensing area exposed in the cavity.

Unisem continues to make MEMS packaging a key component to its growth moving forward with continued investments in technology, equipment and factory floor space to meet their demands as they move into their next billion units of MEMS devices assembled.

Unisem is a global provider of semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services for electronics companies.

200mm fabs reawakening


July 13, 2016

By David Lammers, Contributing Editor

Buoyed by strong investments in China, 200mm wafer production is seeing a re-awakening, with overall 200mm capacity expected to match its previous 2006 peak level by 2019 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. By 2019, 200mm fab capacity should be close to the previous peak seen in 2006, according to SEMI. Several new 200mm fabs are expected to open in China. (Source: SEMICON West presentation by Christian Dieseldorff).

Figure 1. By 2019, 200mm fab capacity should be close to the previous peak seen in 2006, according to SEMI. Several new 200mm fabs are expected to open in China. (Source: SEMICON West presentation by Christian Dieseldorff).

Speaking at a SEMI/Gartner market symposium at SEMICON West, SEMI senior analyst Christian Dieseldorff said over the next few years “we don’t see 200mm fabs closing, in fact we see new ones beginning operation. To me, that is just amazing.”

The numbers back up the rebound. Excluding LEDs, the installed capacity of 200mm fabs will reach about 5.3 million wafers per month (wspm) in 2018, almost matching the 2007 peak of 5.6 million wspm. As shown in Figure 1, By 2019 as new 200mm fabs start up in China, 200mm wafer production will surge beyond the previous 2007 peak, a surprising achievement for a wafer generation that began more than 25 years ago. Figure 2 shows how capacity, which held steady for years, is now on the increase.

Figure 2. 200mm fab capacity, which remained relatively constant for years, is now increasing.

Figure 2. 200mm fab capacity, which remained relatively constant for years, is now increasing.

Case in point: On the opening day of Semicon West, Beijing Yangdong Micro announced a new OLED 200mm fab that will be opening in the second half of 2018 to make OLED drivers, according to Dieseldorff.

Over the past few years, Japan-based companies have closed 10 200mm fabs, mostly outdated logic facilities, while expanding production of discrete power and analog ICs on 200mm wafers. But with China opening several new 200mm fabs and the expansions of existing 200mm fabs worldwide, SEMI sees an additional 274,000 wafer starts per month of 200mm production over the 2015-2018 period, adding expansions and additional fabs, and subtracting closed facilities.

“One message from our research is that we believe the existing 200mm fabs are full. Companies have done what they can to expand and move tools around, and that is coming to an end,” he said. SEMI reckons that 19 new 200mm fabs have been built since 2010, at least six of them in China.

SEMI’s Christian Dieseldorff.

SEMI’s Christian Dieseldorff.

Dieseldorff touched on a vexing challenge to the 200mm expansion: the availability of 200mm equipment. “People have problems getting 200mm equipment, used and even new. The (200mm) market is not well understood by some companies,” he said. With a shortage of used 200mm equipment likely to continue, the major equipment companies are building new 200mm tools, part of what Dieseldorff described as an “awakening” of 200mm manufacturing.

 

China is serious

Sam Wang, a research vice president at Gartner who focuses on the foundry sector, voiced several concerns related to 200mm production at the SEMI/Gartner symposium. While SMIC (which has a mix of 200mm and 300mm fabs) has seen consistently healthy annual growth, the five second-tier Chinese foundries – — Shanghai Huahong Grace, CSMC, HuaLi, XMC, and ASMC — saw declining revenues year-over-year in 2015. Overall, China-based foundries accounted for just 7.8 percent of total foundry capacity last year, and the overall growth rate by Chinese foundries “is way below the expectations of the Chinese government,” Wang said.

The challenge, he said, is for China’s foundries which rely largely on legacy production to grow revenues in a competitive market. And things are not getting any easier. While production of has shown overall strength in units, Wang cautioned that price pressures are growing for many of the ICs made on 200mm wafers. Fingerprint sensor ICs, for example, have dropped in price by 30 percent recently. Moreover, “the installation of legacy nodes in 300mm fabs by large foundries has caused concern to foundries who depend solely on 200 mm.”

But Wang emphasized China’s determination to expand its semiconductor production. “China is really serious. Believe it,” he said.

New markets, new demand

The smart phone revolution has energized 200mm production, adding to a growing appetite for MEMS sensors, analog, and power ICs. Going forward, the Internet of Things, new medical devices, and flexible and wearable products may drive new demand, speakers said at the symposium.

Jason Marsh, director of technology for the government and industry-backed NextFlex R&D alliance based in San Jose, Calif., said many companies see “real potential” in making products which have “an unobtrusive form factor that doesn’t alter the physical environment.” He cited one application: a monitoring device worn by hospital patients that would reduce the occurrence of bed sores. These types of devices can be made with “comparatively yesteryear (semiconductor) technology” but require new packaging and system-level expertise.

Legacy devices made on 200mm wafers could get a boost from the increasing ability to combine several chips made with different technologies into fan out chip scale packages (FO CSPs). Bill Chen, a senior advisor at ASE Group, showed several examples of FO CSPs which combine legacy ICs with processors made on leading-edge nodes. “When we started this wafer-level development around 2000 we thought it would be a niche. But now about 30 percent of the ICs used in smart phones are in wafer-level CSPs. It just took a lot of time for the market forces to come along.”

More coverage from this year’s SEMICON West can be found here.

Driven by the increase in global demand for sensors from the smartphone and automotive markets, Amkor Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR), a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, today announced it is ramping up a new MEMS and sensor packaging line at its facility in Shanghai. This new line will build on the expertise developed at Amkor’s MEMS packaging line in the Philippines, which has produced more than 2.1 billion units of MEMS and sensors since 2011.

“Because the package influences device performance, MEMS and sensor development requires close collaboration between device technologists and packaging engineers,” said John Donaghey, Amkor’s corporate vice president, Mainstream Products business unit. “Our Shanghai expansion allows us to better serve customers in Greater China and internationally.”

The sensor content of smartphones, Internet of Things devices, and smart automobiles is increasing rapidly. According to Yole Développement, this has spurred unit growth in the MEMS market to an expected 13% compound annual growth rate through 2021. Additionally, miniaturization and the need for advanced MEMS and sensors are driving the need for “sensor fusion,” which integrates more functionality into a single package.

The new MEMS and sensor line in Shanghai uses Amkor’s standard strip-based processes, and offers leading-edge test protocols to speed time-to-market.

BioMEMS have been used for years, for plenty of applications. Some are linked to solid, mature, slow-growing industries, while others are part of booming applications that are adding new fuel to the bioMEMS market. According to Yole Développement (Yole) analysts, this market will triple from US$2.7 billion in 2015 to US$7.6 billion in 2021. Indeed, with the barrier between consumer and healthcare blurring, an increasing number of healthcare-related applications are using MEMS components, resulting in impressive market growth. Why is MEMS technology increasingly finding a sweet spot within the healthcare sector? What is the added-value of this technology? What are the drivers of this market? Who is developing what?…

Yole’s analysts propose today a high added-value survey of the BioMEMS components and their applications within the healthcare industry.

biomems_market_yole_april2016_433x280

Analysts from the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company, Yole propose a comprehensive technology and market review of the microsystems for healthcare applications. Entitled BioMEMS: Microsytems for Healthcare Applications, this report provides an overview of the diverse bioMEMS components and applications, along with a detailed key players’ description at each level of the supply chain with market shares and related activities. It highlights threats and opportunities related to BioMEMS components along with market and technology trends. Yole’s analysis also details the challenges related to implantable devices and highlights the emergence of consumer healthcare with promising and booming applications.

Faced with an aging “baby boomer” population, healthcare is more important than ever. In-vitro diagnostics, pharmaceutical research, patient monitoring, drug delivery, and implantable devices: all of these fields is growing and system integrators need new innovative technologies. Adopting bioMEMS including accelerometers, pressure sensors, flow sensors, micropumps and others bring improved sensing and actuating functions for all of these healthcare fields. “MEMS components are increasingly used by healthcare system integrators,” says Sébastien Clerc, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. “Indeed BioMEMS are used to bring new functionalities, improve performances and costs and enable miniaturized devices.”

And Yole details:
• Microfluidic devices will cover the largest part of the BioMEMS market in 2021 representing 86% of the total market. Microfluidic chips are increasingly used in life sciences applications. These components will enjoy a 19.2% every year between 2015 and 2021, driven by applications such as Point-of-Care testing.
• In parallel, silicon microphones and flow meters are showing a double digit growth during the 2015 – 2021 period (in value): respectively +23.3% and 18.3%. Though silicon microphones are still an emerging and small market, Yole’s analysts confirm the attractiveness of this MEMS technology for hearing aids application, where it brings higher performance than former technologies. They expect a fast penetration into these devices over the next five years. The trend is also positive for flow sensors: indeed the consulting company Yole highlights an increasing adoption of MEMS disposable devices for drug delivery applications. These disposable BioMEMS components are expected to take an important part of the MEMS flow sensor market in a near future. Until recently, flowmeters were relatively expensive devices and did not suit to drug delivery devices. However today the adoption of disposable sensors for this application opens new high-volumes opportunities for MEMS players. Price reduction was mandatory and MEMS technology successfully addressed the industry needs.

Many other bioMEMS components are also active within the healthcare industry. Yole’s analysts identified pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, microdispensers, temperature sensors and more… Their market dynamics highly depend on the related applications and on the ability of MEMS makers to innovate. Lack of strong technical innovations and emerging applications are the characteristics of certain BioMEMS markets. Yole’s analysts give some examples below:
• The pressure sensors market for healthcare applications is showing a slowly growth. 75% of the market is dedicated to the blood monitoring applications. Established for decades, this market is mature with no real disruptive technologies. Reduction of the number of players and attempt to increase volumes are the main trends of this sector for the next years, analyzes Yole in its bioMEMS report. • Accelerometers market is also showing slow growth opportunities. Such devices are today mainly used for CRM applications (implantable pacemakers and defibrillators) which are growing slowly. New applications such as ballistocardiography or fall detection have the potential to boost this market but still represent very low volumes right now.

However the emergence of consumer could change the game and become a real opportunity for MEMS manufacturers with huge volumes. MEMS companies, involved within the consumer market are already considering the consumer healthcare sector. In the meantime, consumer giants acquire promising healthcare and biotech startups and are positioning themselves to address this market. Despite the great promises of consumer healthcare, it will take some time to reach its full potential, highlights the consulting company in its bioMEMS report. Performance, consumer acceptance, reimbursement, reliability, data security… Yole identified numerous barriers preventing rapid explosion of consumer healthcare. Various players have to sit around the table and discuss to find solutions and thus knock down these barriers: Yole expects it will take a few years until consumer healthcare devices are widely adopted.

Inkjet printing market is in transformation: “Not a revolution, but an evolution,” announces Yole Développement (Yole) in its latest MEMS report, Inkjet Printhead Market & Technology Trends report. And MEMS technology is largely contributing to that changes.

This new Yole’s inkjet printhead report, is gathering technology and market data collected during interviews with system and device manufacturers and equipment & materials suppliers. Under this new technology & market analysis, the consulting company proposes an overview of the MEMS inkjet printhead industry including applications trends, market quantification, list of key players and related market shares. Yole’s analysts detail the printhead industry ecosystem with a relevant competitive analysis and a detailed description of the supply chain. This report also includes a comprehensive technology roadmap.

With a market reaching US$ 1 billion in 2021 (CAGR : 1.8% between 2016 and 2021), the MEMS printhead is one of the most mature MEMS devices.

Without any doubts, MEMS technology is one of the key factor fostering access to new applications and markets. Yole highlights for example the introduction of thin film PZT deposition processes for better control and higher resolution. Industrial companies are also offering better accuracy and scalability of MEMS dies for higher integration first and then to allow single pass printing for high quality and throughput. At the end, the use of semiconductor serial processes directly impacts the printhead price compared to conventional printhead allowing significant cost reduction.
The transition is not only coming from the technology evolution and the MEMS printhead manufacturers (technology push) but also from the market with specific requirements (market pull):

“Today, MEMS technology is not only offering printing capabilities,” asserts Jérôme Mouly, Technology & Market Analyst, Yole. And he adds: “MEMS will create a new ecosystem including services and products around printing from manufacturing to dispensing and IoT.”

Amid this market (r)evolution, MEMS printhead manufacturer landscape has changed in the last 5 years due to high competitiveness in printing industry:
• The industry is today mainly made of large enterprise, led by HP Inc., representing 57% market share followed by Canon and Epson.
• Some companies are currently developing new MEMS-based products. They will give a new leverage to MEMS printead mature market. These companies including XAAR, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Océ, are already players in conventional printheads sectors

According to Yole’s analysts, the MEMS printhead market is still expected to change in the next period. Yole already sees signs of changes:
• Lexmark sold its inkjet business to Funai in 2013.
• The major players HP Inc., Canon and Epson are diversifying activity from consumer to new printing opportunities.
• Most of the conventional piezo printhead players is more and more interested in MEMS technology to reach new markets

What are inkjet printheads writing in the future? MEMS printhead market will generate revenues combining flat sales coming from consumer market with relatively lower volume with high value printheads. From the technology side, emerging solutions will increase resolution, speed of ink to fire and suppress lead-based actuator materials to more and more environmental solutions. And companies will continue to invest in MEMS technologies using foundry services, to use the foundries’ technical knowledge and optimize manufacturing costs.

A detailed description of the MEMS printhead report is available on i-micronews.com, MEMS & Sensors reports section.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.59 billion in orders worldwide in April 2016 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10, according to the April Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.  A book-to-bill of 1.10 means that $110 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2016 was $1.59 billion. The bookings figure is 15.6 percent higher than the final March 2016 level of $1.38 billion, and is 1.3 percent higher than the April 2015 order level of $1.57 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2016 was $1.46 billion. The billings figure is 21.5 percent higher than the final March 2016 level of $1.20 billion, and is 4.0 percent lower than the April 2015 billings level of $1.52 billion.

“Bookings reached their highest levels in eight months and billings levels also significantly improved in April,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “The data reflect strong investments in 3D NAND and in China.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

  Billings
(3-mo. avg)		 Bookings
(3-mo. avg)		 Book-to-Bill
November 2015 $1,288.3 $1,236.6 0.96
December 2015 $1,349.9

 

 $1,343.5 1.00
January 2016 $1,221.2 $1,310.9 1.07
February 2016 $1,204.4 $1,262.0 1.05
March 2016 (final) $1,197.6 $1,379.2 1.15
April 2016 (prelim) $1,455.0 $1,594.6 1.10

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), May 2016

STMicroelectronics announced advanced high-efficiency power semiconductors for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (EVs) with a timetable for qualification to the automotive quality standard AEC-Q101.

In EVs and hybrids, where better electrical efficiency means greater mileage, ST’s latest silicon-carbide (SiC) technology enables auto makers to create vehicles that travel further, recharge faster, and fit better into owners’ lives. A leader in silicon carbide, ST is among the first to present new-generation rectifiers and MOSFETs for high-voltage power modules and discrete solutions addressing all the vehicle’s main electrical blocks. These include the traction inverter, on-board battery charger, and auxiliary DC-DC converter.

Today’s power modules typically rely on standard silicon diodes and Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). Silicon carbide is a newer, wide-bandgap technology that allows smaller device geometries capable of operating well above the 400V range of today’s electric and hybrid drivetrains. The smaller SiC diode and transistor structures present lower internal resistance and respond more quickly than standard silicon devices, which minimize energy losses and allow associated components to be smaller, saving even more size and weight.

“Major carmakers and automotive Tier-1s are now committing to silicon-carbide technology for future product development to leverage its higher aggregate efficiency compared to standard silicon in a wide range of operating scenarios,” said Mario Aleo, Group Vice President and General Manager, Power Transistor Division, STMicroelectronics. “Our SiC devices have demonstrated superior performance and reached an advanced stage of qualification as we support customers preparing to launch new products in the 2017 timeframe.”

ST has been among the first companies to produce silicon-carbide high-voltage MOSFETs, with its first 1200V SiC MOSFET introduced back in 2014, achieving industry-leading 200degreesC rating for more efficient and simplified designs.

The Company is using the industry’s most advanced processes to fabricate SiC MOSFETs and diodes on 4-inch wafers. In order to drive down the manufacturing costs, improve the quality, and deliver the large volumes demanded by the auto industry, ST is scaling up its production of SiC MOSFETs and diodes to 6-inch wafers, and is on schedule to complete both conversions by the end of 2016.

ST has already qualified its 650V SiC diodes to AEC-Q101, and will complete qualification of the latest 650V SiC MOSFETs and 1200V SiC diodes in early 2017. The qualification of the new-generation 1200V SiC MOSFETs will be completed by the end of 2017.

The STPSC20065WY 650V SiC diode is in full production now in DO-247. The range also includes lower current ratings and smaller form-factor TO-220 package options. The STPSC10H12D 1200V SiC diode is sampling now to lead customers in the TO-220AC package and goes to production this month, with volume production of the automotive-grade version planned for Q4 2016. Multiple current ratings from 6A to 20A and packaging options will also be available.

The SCTW100N65G2AG 650V SiC MOSFET is sampling now to lead customers in the HiP247 package. It will ramp up in volumes in H1 2017. To enable more compact designs, a 650V SiC MOSFET in the surface-mount H2PAK will also be qualified to AEC-Q101 in H1 2017.

SEMI today announced the second annual edition of the SEMI European MEMS Summit, dedicated to MEMS and sensors, to be held on September 15-16. After a successful inaugural event in Milan that attracted 265 attendees, this year’s SEMI European MEMS Summit will convene in Stuttgart, one of the world’s major MEMS and Sensor hubs.

MEMS volumes are expected to nearly double, compared to today’s levels, and reach 30 billion units by 2020, based on a Yole Developpement forecast.  While the growth is impressive, challenges exist, and through the SEMI European MEMS Summit’s unique combination of plenary executive talks, exhibition and networking opportunities, major issues will be addressed for discussion and collaboration:

  • Making sensors smaller, smarter, and cheaper
  • Emerging technologies and readiness, maturity
  • Price and margin pressures and business models
  • Markets dynamics and new opportunities

In addition, leading companies will share key messages on their product and business strategic development.  Sessions will focus on automotive, consumer electronics and wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), and more.

“Stuttgart is the ideal location for the 2016 SEMI European MEMS Summit, and we look forward to exchanging views on the latest advances in the MEMS industry,” said Klaus Meder, president of Automotive Electronics at Robert Bosch GmbH.

The conference program is developed by a steering committee composed of industry and thought leaders including ASE, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA-Leti, EV Group, Fraunhofer ENAS, Fraunhofer IZM, IHS, NXP, Okmetic, Sencio, SPTS, STMicroelectronics, SUSS MicroTec, X-Fab, and Yole Developpement.  The program will feature executive speakers from organizations shaping the industry and will be announced in late spring.

Registration for the conference, exhibition and sponsorship packages are open for bookings with ‘early bird’ prices valid until May 31.  Visit www.semi.org/europeanMEMSSummit for details and more information.