Category Archives: Packaging and Testing

A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics, or IME, and Stanford University will collaborate to advance innovations in nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) switch technology for ultra-low power digital systems. The use of NEMS switches in digital systems such as laptops and smart phones can extend operational time of existing batteries, thereby increasing energy efficiency of such devices.

The higher energy efficiency of NEMS switches stems from its ability to effectively stamp out leakage currents that occur during passive standby mode. Leakage current is one of the leading sources of power consumption in digital systems based on traditional semiconductor switches. By replacing these traditional switches with NEMS switches, the total power consumption of a digital block can be reduced by up to 10x.

“One of the challenges in building a reliable NEMS switch,” said Dr. Lee Jae Wung, the IME scientist leading the project, “is in achieving Thin Film Encapsulation to protect the switch structure and the contact materials from degradation and oxidation by providing proper vacuum condition and/or filling inert gas inside the cavity. IME’s capabilities in back end of line compatible materials and processes are expected to contribute strongly in this area.”

Under this collaboration, IME and Stanford University will jointly develop the NEMS fabrication process and device. The project will proceed in two phases, with the first phase focused on demonstrating the reliable operation of the NEMS switch by this year.

 “NEMS relay has proven to be an effective complement to conventional Si CMOS technology for reducing power consumption,” said Philip Wong, professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, “The collaboration with IME will advance this device technology to a manufacturing process that is suitable for co-integration with Si CMOS in practical applications.”

Wong is joined by colleagues, professors Willard R. and Inez Kerr, in this project.

IME is a research institute of the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Its key research areas are in integrated circuits design, advanced packaging, bioelectronics and medical devices, MEMS, nanoelectronics, and photonics. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and seven consortia and centers, which are located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their immediate vicinity.

MEMS APIX new productAnalytical Pixels Technology (APIX) today announced the release of its first commercial product: GCAP, a gas chromatography device designed for a variety of industrial and petrochemical applications, including process monitoring, energy distribution, safety and security and environmental control.

This device, designed, assembled and tested by APIX, is based on nano-scale silicon components licensed from the CEA-Leti and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The silicon components are manufactured in Leti’s advanced semiconductor facility in Grenoble and system assembly and test are performed in APIX’s facility in Grenoble.

“GCAP’s very flexible, versatile architecture, based on high-density silicon columns and sensors, means GCAP can be configured to perform in a number of different modes, including conventional, multi-dimensional or concurrent analysis,” said Dr. Pierre Puget, APIX co-founder and CTO. “This makes it the ideal tool for research laboratories, advanced gas analysis, and complex applications such as biomedical screening.”

“One of GCAP’s key features is its ability to work with a number of different carrier gases,” Puget continued. “This is made possible by the extreme sensitivity of the silicon nano-scale sensors at the heart of the system.”

In particular, the ability of GCAP to work with scrubbed air as a carrier gas in lieu of expensive, cumbersome bottled gases allows easy in-situ deployment, nearly real-time analysis, and a significant reduction in operating costs.

Additional major features of GCAP include its ability to:

–      separate and precisely quantify individual molecules among hundreds of interfering substances, depending on architectural configurations

–      limit detection for most chemical compounds below 1 parts-per-million without pre-concentration and in the parts-per-billion range with pre-concentration

–      reduce the volume of analyte required to less than 10 microliters, and the volume of carrier gas to less than 1 milliliter

–      analyze most chemicals is less than one minute

The performance of GCAP, which is available for beta testing, has been demonstrated with alkanes, permanent gases, volatile organic compounds and other materials. 

Analytical Pixels Technology (APIX) was created in 2011 to manufacture and sell gas chromatography products based on joint research by CEA-Leti and Caltech. APIX-designed silicon devices are manufactured at Leti’s Grenoble, France site. APIX is headquartered in Grenoble and has engineering and business operations in the United States.

Smartphones and media tablets continue to the prime movers of technology industries, with the two mobile platforms spurring a double-digit increase in the market for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) motion sensors this year.

Revenue this year for MEMS motion sensors used in cellphones and tablets will amount to $1.5 billion, up 13 percent from $1.3 billion in 2012, according to the an IHS iSuppli MEMS Special Report from information and analytics provider HIS. While this will be down from the robust 21 percent increase in 2012 and the phenomenal 85 percent boom in 2011, it still represents a strong rise compared to the tepid growth expected for most electronic components during 2013.

After 2013, there will be two more years of double-digit increases before the market starts moderating in 2016 with $2.21 billion. By then, more than 6 billion motion sensors will ship in mobile handsets and tablets, up from just 1.6 billion units in 2011.

“The growth of MEMS motions sensors in wireless devices is being driven by four key factors: the robust sales of smartphones and tablets; the boom of Chinese smartphone makers; the fast adoption rate of pressure sensors; and the addition in some cases of a second gyroscope in the camera modules for optical image stabilization,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst for MEMS & sensors at IHS.

Earlier forecasts showing the market would slow by 2014 will no longer be true given new vigor in the industry because of these four variables, IHS believes.

Apple sets market in motion

First initiated by Apple in its iPhone for auto screen rotation, motion sensors have grown to become one of the most dynamic segments in the overall MEMS market, paving the way for next-generation, gesture-based menu navigation in the user interface of cellphones.

While accelerometers and electronic compasses are already standard in smartphones, other MEMS devices are also gaining heavy traction. Pressure sensors that can help with indoor navigation came to greater prominence in 2012 as Samsung adopted the MEMS device in high-end smartphones more aggressively than expected. After Samsung, Sony and other smaller handset manufacturers, such as Xiaomi from China, also started equipping smartphones with pressure sensors.

Axis power

A new motion sensor likewise is making headway this year in the form of dual-axis gyroscopes, intended for optical image stabilization (OIS) in the camera module of handsets. The new sensor is in addition to the 3-axis gyroscope already found on the main printed circuit boards of handsets. As the camera function increasingly becomes a key differentiator in mid- and high-end smartphones, OIS will become a key feature in camera phones of more than 8 megapixels.

Gray market fades

Also helping spur the motion sensor market in 2012 was a dramatic surge in the number of legitimate, officially sanctioned smartphones in China—as opposed to the hordes of illegal, gray-market handsets still widely proliferating in that country.

The number of authorized smartphones produced by Chinese handset original equipment manufacturers (OEM) exceeded 150 million units last year, up from 67 million in 2011. The Chinese-made handsets now all feature at least one accelerometer, with compasses and gyroscopes expected to be integrated later. Smartphone shipments from Chinese OEMs will continue to climb in the next few years, further stoking the MEMS motion sensor market for handsets.

Combo sensors enjoy fast growth

While discrete MEMS motion sensor devices like accelerometers, gyroscopes and electronic compasses continue to be the major revenue earners, the combo sensor market—in which several sensors are integrated into a module—is also expanding rapidly.

In terms of revenue, approximately 16 percent of motion sensors were shipped as part of a combo sensor in 2012, up from just 3 percent in 2011, on the way to 53 percent by 2016. Six-axis inertial measurements units (IMU) comprising a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope in the same package will be the most popular combo sensor, ahead of 6-axis compasses and 9-axis IMUs.

Controlling the market: the biggest buyers—and their suppliers

Apple and Samsung were the biggest buyers in 2012 of motion sensors in handsets, accounting for 57 percent of consumption, up from just 25 percent in 2009. The American and South Korean giants have now surpassed Nokia as the top purchasers. Also rising to become a major force is the group of Chinese OEMs including Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Coolpad, along with a number of other smaller China-based players.

On the supply side, four suppliers claimed 84 percent of total motion sensor revenue last year.

French-Italian STMicroelectronics led the field with a 48 percent share, followed by Japan’s AKM with 18 percent, German-based Bosch with 10 percent and InvenSense from California with 9 percent.

MEMS motion sensor
By Haraldino80 (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

MEMS microphone market to doubleSilicon microphones are among a broad range of devices known as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), an emerging field in which various sensors and mechanical devices are constructed on a single wafer using processes developed for making integrated circuits (ICs). The chief advantage of micromachining silicon microphones is cost. Several sensors can be processed on a chip simultaneously and can be integrated with passive and active electronic devices.

According to a new market research study from Innovative Research and Products, or iRAP, titled MEMS Microphones – A Global Technology, Industry and Market Analysis (ET-118), silicon micro-machined microphones (also known as silicon microphones or MEMS microphones) have begun to emerge as a competitor technology to the electret condenser microphone (ECM). The global market for MEMS microphones has reached approximately $422 million in 2012. The market is predicted to increase to $865 million in 2017, with increasingly high uptake of MEMS microphones over alternatives for a variety of applications. Thanks to Apple Inc., which has spurred on this phenomenal growth by adopting MEMS microphones for their products, namely the iPhone, iPad and iTouch, hence paving the way for other smartphone and tablet manufactures to adopt the same.

MEMS microphones are more compact than traditional microphone systems, because they capture sound and convert it to a digital signal on the same chip. MEMS microphone solutions developed on the CMOS (complimentary metal oxide semiconductors) MEMS platform frees consumer electronic device designers and manufacturers from many of the problems associated with ECMs. CMOS MEMS microphones also integrate an analog-to-digital converter on the chip, creating a microphone with a robust digital output. Since the majority of portable applications will ultimately convert the analogue output of the microphone to a digital signal for processing, the system architecture can be made completely digital, removing noise-prone analogue signals from the circuit board and simplifying the overall design.

Report Highlights

The new iRAP study has focused on MEMS microphones that can be used in mobile phones, digicams, camcorders, laptops, automotive hands-free calling and hearing aids. It provides market data about the size and growth of the MEMS microphones application segments, new developments including a detailed patent analysis, company profiles and industry trends. The report also covered the underlying economic issues driving the MEMS microphones business, as well as assessments of new advanced MEMS microphones that are being developed.

Manufacturers of MEMS microphones expect competition to persist and intensify in the future from a number of different sources. Microphones are facing competition in a new, rapidly evolving and highly competitive sector of the audio communication market. Increased competition could result in reduced prices and gross margins for microphone products and could require increased spending by research and development, sales and marketing and customer support.

Micro-machined microphone chips can match and extend the performance of existing devices, for instance, by using sensor arrays. Silicon microphones also offer advantages to the OEM in the form of improved manufacturing methods (reliability, yield, assembly cost) combined with robustness. They also offer additional functionality, such as the ability to incorporate multiple microphones into portable electronic devices for noise suppression and beam forming.

The potential for smaller footprint components and resistance to electromagnetic interference also supports new cell phone designs. Moreover, MEMS microphones meet price points set by electret microphones by leveraging established high-volume silicon manufacturing processes. This combination of size, performance and functionality, and low cost are highly desirable for OEMs and consumers alike.

Many of these new “miniature” silicon microphones for consumer and computer communication devices are approximately one-half the size and operate on just one-third the power of conventional microphones.

The range of possible applications of these microphones derives from their important advantages as compared to conventional ECM technologies. Based on silicon MEMS technology, the new microphone achieves the same acoustic and electrical properties as conventional microphones, but is more rugged and exhibits higher heat resistance. These properties offer designers of a wide range of products greater flexibility and new opportunities to integrate microphones.

Report Conclusions

Major findings of this report are:

  • The MEMS microphones market is an attractive, and still growing, 100s of million-dollar market characterized by very high production volumes of MEMS microphones that are extremely reliable and low in cost.
  • Mobile phones would consistently have the largest share through 2017, followed by laptops and tablets, camcorders, hearing aids, headphones and automotive.
  • From 2012 to 2017, hearing aids will have the highest growth rate with AAGR at 27.46%, followed by headphones at 25% AAGR.
  • Regionally, North America had about 25.3% of the market in 2012, followed by Europe at 19.7 %, Japan at 15.7% and the rest of world at 39.5%.
  • In 2012, More than ten companies and institutions worldwide are active in the field of MEMS microphones, which can be divided in two different technological concepts – single-chip and two-chip. The number of active market participants is expected to double by 2017.
  • By 2017, MEMS microphones will achieve penetrations of 92% in the mobile phone market segment and 95% in PDAs, digicams and camcorders market.
  • In terms of technology, the largest share will be for two-chip integration.

MEMs in the medical fieldMicroelectromechanical (MEMS) devices are shaping the competitive landscape in the global medical device industry. Several factors are behind the increasing demand for and innovation in MEMS devices in the medical industry: growing number of MEMS applications in healthcare; innovations, revolution and growth in the personal healthcare market, including wireless implants; and rising awareness and affordability of healthcare.

Participants and would-be entrants must understand the medical MEMS device market in order to compete in it. Global Information (GII) highlights three major reports that present the key issues driving and constraining market growth, in addition to probable solutions that can address emerging concerns in the medical MEMS market. Report forecasts provide a quantitative assessment of the market for companies to benchmark their performance and plan for future high growth areas, while qualitative analyses provide both an overarching view and a detailed breakdown of the MEMS market.

MEMS Devices in Global Medical Markets

The use of MEMS devices by different stakeholders is driving market growth by adding to the demand of devices from different medical market segments as discussed above. This is also indirectly encouraging for medical sector market players (particularly big ones) that have diverse customer bases composed of different stakeholders and diverse product portfolios (such as diagnostics, research, and medical devices), as they can capitalize on the MEMS market by leveraging their existing resources to some extent. Moreover, a diverse set of devices catering to the needs of different stakeholders encourages new entrants into sectors of their choice to complement or suit their capabilities and potentials.

Integrated devices and advancements in inertial sensors, such as products for human motion analysis, are meeting the needs of the modernized healthcare delivery model, especially for the elderly patient sector, by adding the element of prevention. An example of product innovation is microneedles for drug delivery, which is gaining popularity by offering a pain-free and enhanced, accurate method of drug delivery. Similarly, the diagnostic devices have significantly reduced the sample testing time from hours to a few minutes, thus significantly adding value to the healthcare delivery model from different perspectives such as time efficiency, convenience, patient satisfaction, and ease of operations.

Microfluidic/lab on chip (LOC) is considered a revolutionary technology for the life sciences and healthcare industry. This technology enables the integration of assay operations, such as sample pretreatment and sample preparation, on a single chip. This is radically changing the pharmaceutical and life-sciences research sector by changing the way procedures, such as DNA analysis and proteomics, are conducted.

The microfluidic/lab on chip (LOC) segment is expected to rise to 72% of the market share of MEMS devices by 2017. Major growth drivers of this sector are research tools, which are expected to achieve significant growth of CAGR 28.8% from 2012 to 2017. A surge from 2012 to 2017 in research applications, such as proteomics, genomics, and cellular analysis, is also expected to boost this sector.

In terms of applications, the macro segments of the market include pharmaceutical and life-sciences research, in vitro diagnostics, home healthcare, and medical devices. Among all of these applications, research is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 28.3% from 2012 to 2017.

BioMEMS

Expected to triple in size over the next five years, the bioMEMS market is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2012 to $6.6 billion in 2018. Microsystem devices have applications in four key healthcare markets: pharmaceutical, in-vitro diagnostics, medical devices and medical home care. Microsystem devices have become increasingly visible in the healthcare market by serving as solutions adapted to the requirements of various applications. The usefulness of these devices is two-fold: they improve medical device performance for the patient; and secondly, they offer competitive advantages to system manufacturers. For example, the introduction of accelerometers in pacemakers has revolutionized the treatment of cardiac diseases.

BioMEMS devices examined in the report include: pressure sensors, silicon microphones, accelerometers, gyroscopes, optical MEMS and image sensors, microfluidic chips, microdispensers for drug delivery, flow meters, infrared temperature sensors, and emerging MEMS including RFID, strain sensors, and energy harvesting.

The Global MEMs Device, Equipment, and Materials Markets: Forecasts and Strategies for Vendors and Foundries

A significant portion of MEMS manufacturing technology has come from the IC industry. MEMS devices can be made using silicon wafers and the manufacturing process can incorporates semiconductor manufacturing processes such as sputtering, deposition, etching and lithography. This report analyzes the market for MEMS devices and the equipment and materials to make them.

This report provides forecasts for the following key MEMS device applications: ink jet head, pressure sensor, silicon microphone, accelerometer, gyroscope, MOEMS, Micro Display, Microfluidics, RF MEMS, Micro Fuel Cells, and more.

Tronics to produce break-through MEMS technologyTronics has recently launched a new large-scale MEMS project to industrialize CEA-Leti’s breakthrough M&NEMS, or Micro and Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems, technology. This technology is based on piezoresistive nanowires rather than pure capacitive detection, which will advance device performance and chip size. This project sets the stage for a new generation of combo sensors for motion sensing applications.

Within two years, the team will develop 6 DOF, 9 DOF and higher DOF devices, where all sensing elements are using the same M&NEMS technology. The goal is to achieve both significant surface reduction and performance improvement of the multi-DOF sensors. Beyond the smaller die size and the ultra-low power consumption, M&NEMS technology allows manufacturing of all the sensor’s axes with one unique technology platform. This high level of integration and commonality simplifies the associated control and readout electronic circuits, both in terms of design and operational efficiency.

In addition to investments by Tronics and its partners, a substantial portion of the project’s cost is supported by a 6.5 million euros grant provided by the French Ministry of Industry within its Nanoelectronique Industrial Support program.

To generate the volumes required by consumer applications, Tronics plans to support the technology all the way to high volume eight inch production maturity.

“This is the most exciting technological endeavor I have been involved in in the last 10 years,” Peter Pfluger, CEO of Tronics, said. “This technology truly has the potential to be disruptive in the motion sensing business.”

Tier one pilot customers and well-established industrial partners are involved in the initiative, to ensure its fit with market needs and its rapid convergence to actual products. Leading ASIC suppliers are also contributing their expertise to design a motion sensor chipset that fully leverages the M&NEMS strengths. Last but not least, data fusion software specialist Movea is providing its expertise to enable advanced motion capture capabilities, such as indoor navigation and dead-reckoning.

In the second article of the MEMS new product development blog, the importance of the first prototype will be discussed. Theoretical work is valuable and a necessary step in this process but nothing shows proof of principle and sells a design like a working prototype. It’s something people can touch, observe and investigate while distracting them from doubt associated with change. Building multiple prototypes in this first phase is equally important to begin validation early and show repeatability or provide evidence to change design and process directions.

The first prototypes should include both non functional and function samples. The non functional samples are used to test one or more characteristics such as burst strength of a pressure sensor element. Fully functional samples can be used to test multiple performance interactions. An interaction is likely to include how the packaging of a MEMS device influences its accuracy or how exposure to environmental conditions affect sensor performance over life. Let’s look at a few examples of how prototypes can influence proper decision making and expedite new product development.

When working with an OEM on the development of a MEMS sensor, the team hit a road block with the customer pursuing one design direction (for very specific reasons) and the sensor team trying to make a change to improve sensor performance in fluid drainage. The sensor package had two long, narrow ports of specific diameter and the customer was resistant to change because of envelope size constraints and the need to retrofit legacy products in the field. However, the diameter of the ports was the most important factor in improving drainage. Engineers on both sides threw around theories for months with no common ground achieved before a prototype was made. Then a prototype was built with several different size ports and a drainage study was completed. A video was made showing visual evidence of the test results. It turned out that making a 2 mm increase in port diameter resulted in full drainage with gravity where the previous design held fluid until it was vigorously shook.  When the customer saw the results of the prototype testing in the video, a solution to open port diameter was reached in just a days including a method to retrofit existing products in production.   

For another application, the engineering team needed to develop a method to prevent rotation of a MEMS sensor package. The customer requested that rotation be eliminated with a key feature added at the end of a threaded port. One method to achieve this is through broaching. This method involves cutting a circular blind hole, using a secondary tool to cut the material to a slightly different shape such a hexagon and then removing the remaining chip with a post drill operation. When the idea was first introduced, most experts stated it was crazy to attempt such a feature in hardened stainless steel and no quoted the business. However, the team built a prototype to test the idea. Our first prototype successfully broached 3 holes and then the tool failed due to a large chip in the tool’s tip. The team examined the failure and learned that the chip in the tool resulted from a sharp cutting edge. The material was also suboptimal for this broaching process but it was obtained quickly. Learning from these mistakes the team chose a more robust material and slightly dulled the cutting edge. These changes improved tool life from 3 to 92 broaches. This was a significant improvement but not to the point of a robust manufacturing process. Again learning from the prototype the team saw evidence heat was playing a role in the failure. This led the team to change to a more robust lubrication (something similar to the consistency of honey). This single, additional change improved tool life from 92 to over 1100 broaches and it was learned that increased tool life could be obtained with periodic sharpening and dulling the edge slightly. With further development, over 12,000 broaches were obtained in a single sharpening with tool life lasting over 96,000 broaches. Hence a prototype quickly showed proof of concept but also led to process and tool design changes that provided a successful solution.  

The last example is of a fully functional, prototype MEMS pressure sensor. Prior to building a prototype, analytical tools such as finite element analysis were used to predict interactions between the packaging and sense element when large external loads were applied to package extremities. These models are highly complex and often misuse of the tool by non experienced users results in team skepticism of the results. Colleagues may refer to work of this nature as "pretty pictures" but not very meaningful or doubtful at best. However, when performed properly with attention to meshing, material properties, boundary conditions, applied loads and solvers accurate results can be obtained. This allows for multiple design iterations analytically prior to the first prototype to ensure the sensor has the highest probability of achieving the desired performance. After finding a design solution where the packaging had less than 0.1% influence on the MEMS sense element performance, prototypes were built to validate both the optimized (slightly higher cost, better predicted performance) and a non optimized design (lower cost, lower predicted performance).  Upon validation of both prototypes the team found over 90% correlation between experimental and theoretical results. In addition, the first prototype (although having some flaws) was very functional and performed well enough to be used in a customer validation station.  With high correlation between theory and experimentation, the once questionable results were validated as trustworthy and further FEA could be performed for design optimization.

In each of the case studies reviewed above, it was seen that early prototypes led to a wealth of information for the engineering team and proof of principle. In some cases, proof of principle is not obtained and design / process direction needs to change which is equally valuable information. The first prototypes can also be extremely valuable for influencing colleagues, customers and managers to pursue a particular design or process direction when theory can be disputed at length. In the next article of the blog, critical design and process steps that lead to successful first prototypes will be discussed.   

 

Author Biography:

David DiPaola is Managing Director for DiPaola Consulting, a company focused on engineering and management solutions for electromechanical systems, sensors and MEMS products. A 16 year veteran of the field, he has brought many products from concept to production in high volume with outstanding quality. His work in design and process development spans multiple industries including automotive, medical, industrial and consumer electronics. Previously he has held engineering management and technical staff positions at Texas Instruments and Sensata Technologies, authored numerous technical papers and holds 5 patents. To learn more, please visit www.dceams.com.  

STMicroelectronics and the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Science have announced that a sophisticated bird-tracking system developed by the university is using advanced MEMS sensing technology from ST.

Weighing as little as a 20 euro cent coin or a US quarter and smaller than a car key so as not to impede the birds’ flight, the tracking systems are sophisticated data loggers that can be attached to the back of the birds. The trackers enable valuable scientific research on bird behavior by measuring GPS position every three seconds.

“MEMS technologies are finding their way into a broad range of applications,” said Benedetto Vigna, executive vice president and general manager of ST’s Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group. “The light weight, low power, and high accuracy of the MEMS make it ideal for innovative projects like UvA’s bird tracking system to study avian migration and behavior.”

In addition to the bird’s location, determined via GPS, the tracker collects acceleration and direction data from STMicroelectronics’ LSM303DLM digital compass that integrates low-power, high-performance motion and magnetic sensing in a miniature form factor. The MEMS chip monitors the direction and vertical/horizontal orientation of the animal and can determine the body angle of birds flying in a crosswind.

“Animals have a lot to teach us and, especially as the Earth’s climate changes, there are many projects that we can undertake to study animal behavior and migration patterns,” said Prof. Dr. Ir. Willem Bouten of UvA. “STMicroelectronics is a strong partner for us in developing technologies that are suitable and adaptable to researching challenging problems that could help us address the effects of global warming and land use change.”

The tracker also contains sensors that measure both the air temperature and the internal temperature of the device. A lithium battery, charged by a high-efficient triple-junction solar cell, provides power to the system, and a ZigBee transceiver manages wireless data communication to and from the device.

Data from the trackers is currently being shared among bird-research institutes and biologists to verify computer models that predict bird behavior and migration patterns.

The bird tracking system was developed in a close collaboration of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics and the Technology Centre both of the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam.

MEMS to track birds
The tracking system weighs a little as a US quarter and is smaller than a car key.

MEMs industry revenue forecastA strong uptake in consumer and mobile devices will power the market for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to solid revenue growth in 2013, with breakthroughs in new sensor applications also expected this year, according to insights from the IHS iSuppli MEMS service at information and analytics provider IHS.

Overall revenue in 2013 for MEMS sensors and actuators is forecast to reach $9.09 billion, up 8.1 percent from $8.41 billion last year. This year’s expansion is perceptibly higher than the 6.1 percent increase of 2012, and growth during the next two years will be even more robust, at double-digit increases. By 2017, MEMS revenue will amount to some $12.21 billion, up more than 50 percent from 2011 levels.

The growth rate for MEMS is highly positive compared to figures reported for the overall semiconductor industry, which declined by 2.3 percent last year. But the sizable gains in MEMS are typical for an industry that sees the healthy exposure of its products in a great number of consumer and mobile devices. And among all MEMS segments including automotive, military/aerospace and medical electronics, the consumer and mobile segment is the largest MEMS sector of all.

To date, MEMS sensors like accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors and microphones can be found in an enormous array of gadgets, including smartphones and tablets, gaming consoles and handheld players, camera phones and toys. But new applications this year are also making their way into the market, helping to propel industry growth, IHS iSuppli believes.

MEMS in handsets rule

The breakthrough applications for MEMS sensors this year have mostly to do with mobile handsets and camera phones, boosting functionality and performance.

For instance, MEMS actuators will figure significantly in the auto focus and zoom features of cellphone camera modules via suppliers such as PoLight, but also aided by California-based Tessera Technologies joining the fray this year, using technology Tessera gained when it acquired Siimpel Corp. Siimpel, also from California, had originally developed the MEMS technology for camera phones. The driver here will be smartphones with imaging capabilities of more than 8 megapixels—a market worth $20 million this year but soaring to $200 million by 2016.

Good opportunities will also come about for dedicated 2-axis gyroscopes, intended for image stabilization in camera phones. Companies that will benefit include InvenSense from California, Panasonic of Japan, and Italian-French entity STMicroelectronics. Linear Hall sensors will likewise share the limelight—a boon for companies such as Allegro Microsystems from Massachusetts, Infineon of Germany, Belgian-based Melexis, Micronas of Switzerland and AKM of Japan.

Another new application for MEMS this year will take the form of pressure sensors for mobile handsets, with Samsung—not Apple—leading the way this time via its top Galaxy S III and Note II smartphones. The use case is ostensibly for height measurement in buildings to support indoor navigation, even though the infrastructure is not completely in place yet. The question for pressure sensor suppliers such as STMicroelectronics and German firm Bosch is whether Samsung will sustain its use of the function for phones—and if others will follow Samsung’s example. A cautiously positive scenario is likely, IHS iSuppli expects, with this market doubling in 2013 to $100 million.

Other MEMS areas also to thrive, but WSS could suffer

Also joining the MEMS mainstream this year will be the timing market, which has continued to grow from a small base during the last two years. Especially in the key mobile handset space, temperature-compensated crystal oscillators or TCXOs—which perform better than incumbent quartz equivalents—will come to the fore in the baseband processor/GPS chipset. Housed in extremely compact designs, the oscillators ensure high-quality data communication by reducing noise in high-speed, high-capacity wireless communications typical in smartphones. Companies like California-based SiTime Corp. and Sand 9 from Massachusetts are propelling development.

Similarly, varactors and switches used for radio-frequency (RF) antenna tuning will begin to experience some market traction in 2013, even though other technologies like gallium arsenide and ferroelectric BST are still well-placed.

In what could be a blow to the optical MEMS market, however, a new trend suggests that liquid crystal-on-silicon alternatives may be replacing MEMS-based wavelength selective switches (WSS).

How this scenario develops could have a significant negative impact on this part of the MEMS market this year, especially as WSS is currently forecast to amount to more than 50 percent of the optical MEMS space for telecoms.

 

MEMS Industry Group (MIG) will host its second annual MEMS Executive Congress® Europe, March 12, 2013 in Amsterdam. This European edition of MIG’s executive event features an opening presentation by MIG Managing Director Karen Lightman, keynotes by Continental Automotive GmbH and SORIN GROUP, and panels exploring micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) as a core enabling technology in both established and emerging markets.

“European companies and research organizations are breaking new ground in mobile communications, automotive systems, energy production and conservation, and medical/quality of life applications for aging populations—and a share of the astounding progress they are making is attributable to MEMS,” said Karen Lightman, managing director, MEMS Industry Group. “MEMS Executive Congress Europe allows the global MEMS community to tap into the expertise of some of the top European minds in these growing fields. It is a forum for exchanging vital information about business and market challenges and opportunities in using MEMS for life-improving and life-changing applications.”

Keynotes

  • Ralf Schnupp, PhD, vice president, Segment Occupant Safety & Inertial Sensors, Continental Automotive GmbH—“Future Trends in Automotive — Smart Systems and Sensors”
  • Renzo Dal Molin, PhD, advanced research director, SORIN CRM within Cardiac Rhythm Management business unit, SORIN GROUP—“Vision for Implanted Medical Devices Healthcare Solutions and Technical Challenges”

Panels

  • “MEMS in Consumer Products”—MEMS is pervasive in consumer electronics. Consumers are demanding—and receiving—more natural user interfaces in smartphones, tablets and remotes; more immersive gaming experiences; more personalized consumer-health applications; and so much more. European companies are leading innovation in this rapidly growing market—but why? Panelists will explore whether the climate for innovation, including corporate-government partnerships and consumer-OEM relationships, fosters greater innovation in the EU than in other regions. Panelists will also discuss the intense pressures of this highly competitive but lucrative market.
  • “MEMS in Automotive”—MEMS has been critical to advancements in the automotive industry for decades, starting with accelerometers in airbag crash sensors and other automotive safety and environmental control applications. Today MEMS is opening a whole new world of safety, energy-efficiency and performance features in automotive. We are moving towards cars that drive themselves, zero-emission vehicles, and automobiles that meet the ubiquitous connectivity needs of today’s consumer. Panelists will examine how MEMS is enabling new classes of applications in the well-established yet highly competitive and consumer-driven automotive industry. They will explore the maturation of MEMS components into essential elements used in every new automotive technology—and will examine if lessons learned on the journey can be applied to other applications and industries.
  • “MEMS in Energy”—the energy industry is undergoing significant change—from deregulation in existing markets and expansion into new energy sources and regions to the rapid increase of energy costs. With current energy sources not able to meet future global demand, we require new solutions that are portable and highly efficient. Once again the EU is leading the way. European organizations are looking to MEMS in harnessing alternative energy and in generating more energy-efficient, lower-cost power. Panelists will discuss current MEMS initiatives for energy applications and will explore areas of the energy industry that might benefit from integration with MEMS.
  • “MEMS in Medical — Focus on Aging”—medical and quality of life applications that allow people to live longer and more independently are gaining mindshare—and market share. With medical-device manufacturers increasingly pursuing growing commercial opportunities, they are turning to MEMS for patient monitoring, management, rehabilitation, replacement, and drug delivery, including microfluidics. As people in the developed world live longer, and expect a high quality of life to the very end, how can MEMS help to meet the needs of a vast and aging populace? Panelists will address the MEMS’ connection to lifesaving and life-enhancing applications.

About MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2013

MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2013 brings together business leaders from a broad spectrum of industries: automotive, industrial/energy, biomedical/quality of life, and consumer goods. It is a unique professional forum at which executives from companies designing and manufacturing MEMS technology sit side-by-side with their end-user customers in panel discussions and networking events to exchange ideas and information about the use of MEMS in commercial applications.

Premier sponsors of MEMS Executive Congress Europe include: Platinum Sponsor – EV Group; Gold Sponsor – SPTS Technologies; Silver Sponsors – Analog Devices, STMicroelectronics and SUSS MicroTec; and Bronze Sponsor – Applied Materials.

Sponsors include: Akustica, Bosch Automotive Electronics, Bosch Sensortec, Fries Research & Technology (FRT), imec, IVAM, Maxim Integrated, MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange, MinacNed, Polytec, Roessingh Research and Development, Semicon Europa,Silex Microsystems, Solid State Technology and Tronics.

MEMS Executive Congress Europe will be held March 12, 2013 at the Steigenberger Airport Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It is conveniently co-located with Smart Systems Integration 2013.

For more information, please contact MIG via phone: +1 412/390-1644, email: [email protected] or visit MEMS Executive Congress at: www.memscongress.com.

MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is the trade association advancing MEMS across global markets. Close to 150 companies comprise MIG, including Analog Devices, Applied Materials, Bosch, Freescale Semiconductor, GE, Honeywell, HP, Intel, InvenSense, Murata Electronics Oy, OMRON Electronic Components, Qualcomm Technologies, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. For more information, visit: www.memsindustrygroup.org.