Category Archives: Packaging and Testing

June 3, 2008 — Toshiba Corporation has optimized for MEMS two packaging technologies that promise significant cost reductions. Both can be applied at the wafer level, and both have been used to achieve multi-chip MEMS packaging with a control IC at a thickness of only 0.8mm. Toshiba says it will further develop and optimize these technologies to establish them for practical use.

The first technology covers encapsulation under normal atmospheric condition, the second a stronger structure for vacuum sealing.

As achieving cost efficiency and high productivity is one of the key objectives of MEMS, there are significant demands for small sized, hermetic cavity packaging technologies. Vacuum sealing is utilized in high speed applications, such as MEMS switch and gyroscopes, but Toshiba points out that there are various problems with this, including ringing. In applications where high speed is not required, such as use in mobile phones, low cost encapsulation under normal atmospheric condition technology is employed. Toshiba has developed both packaging technologies.

In encapsulation under normal atmospheric condition, a hermetic cavity is formed by coating a polymer sacrifice layer with SiO2 film, etching a cavity on the sacrifice layer through holes driven through the film, and then covering the film layer with a polymer cap. Etching efficiency is increased with larger holes, but this also raises the danger of polymer inflow into the cavity. Toshiba says it overcame this challenge by optimizing hole size and shape, achieving increased production efficiency and preventing any inflow. Furthermore, previous applications of this technology to MEMS chips was limited to non-water-resistant covering materials, but Toshiba also achieved a moisture-resistant package through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of a hybrid structure organic and inorganic films.

In vacuum sealing, air pressure on the hermetic cavity can cause chip failure. According to Toshiba, the company overcame this with application of a new corrugated encapsulation structure that increases pressure resistance. In addition, changing the shape of the etching holes from circles to ovals reduced stress and risk of damage during etching. In a further step, laminating a thicker layer extended the process to multiple level cell packaging, where high pressure resistance is essential.

(April 18, 2008) Medicine Park, OK &#151 Luke P. Lee, Ph.D., from the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley has been selected as keynote speaker for MEPTEC’s 6th Annual MEMS Packaging symposium titled “MEMS Market Evolution: From Technology Push to Market Pull” on May 22, 2008. This one-day event will take place at the Wyndham Hotel, San Jose, CA.

Mar. 28, 2008 – In a sector dominated by expensive customized products, the best opportunities in the MEMS test equipment market are to develop cost-effective standardized technologies, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.

The report pegs the worldwide MEMS test equipment market at $56.5M in 2007, growing to $120.2M in 2014. But the high price of current tools (up to $1M) is a deterrent for many MEMS device manufacturers, and heavy customization requires more work by vendors, which further drives up costs. Also, there’s a lack of versatility in MEMS test equipment — most perform only either electrical testing or mechanical testing — and increasing complexity of MEMS devices will further push growth of lower-cost processes.

As a result, most manufacturers don’t employ MEMS testing unless it’s essential, and most end-users lack understanding about its importance, and have “a low awareness” of wafer-level technology and MEMS testing, the report notes.

“In today’s market, if it costs around $0.50 to manufacture a chip, it costs almost $0.40 to test it,” said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Sujan Sami, in a statement. Thus, the market is clamoring for low-cost test equipment, which is “compelling test vendors to conduct more intensive research in this area,” he said.

To overcome this marketplace perception, test vendors are focusing on educating end users and explaining benefits obtainable via MEMS testing, which is expected to help “significantly” increase adoption rates, the report claims. And once standardization improves, costs will drop.

(March 27, 2008) PALO ALTO, CA — If the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) test equipment market is to match the pace of the overall MEMS market, it has to develop cost-effective, standardized solutions. This is especially pertinent in a market where expensive customized products vastly outnumber off-the-shelf products. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan “World MEMS Test Equipment Markets,” finds that the market earned revenues of $56.5 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $120.2 million in 2014.

February 20, 2008 — With the recent investment of $5 million in MEMS packaging capabilities, Infotonics Technology Center (ITC) is positioning itself as a full-service partner for customers seeking to create new MEMS-based devices and microsystems.

ITC is a New York State Center of Excellence in photonics and microsystems,

“By bringing this state-of-the-art packaging facility on line, ITC now offers the largest array of world-class, MEMS-related services in the industry,” said David. R. Smith, ITC’s chief executive.

“We are helping customers move rapidly from concept to commercialization in application areas that include defense, biotechnology, telecommunications, computing, imaging and printing,” Smith said.

ITC’s offerings now include microsystems design, fabrication, packaging and testing.

According to Nancy Stoffel, MEMS packaging director for ITC, the company analyzed industry trends and surveyed its customers before choosing the tools and supporting infrastructure for the new laboratory.

“The result,” Stoffel said, “is a lab with both basic and advanced technology process tools that is built for flexibility to support rapid prototyping and process development — all the way through to low-volume manufacturing.”

(February 5, 2008) St Florian, Austria — EV Group (EVG) has announced it has received an order from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, for two of EVG’s MEMS-focused systems. The systems will be for a new Indian government-supported automotive MEMS R&D project and are slated for installation this month in IIT Bombay’s Mumbai facility.

A significant challenge facing MEMS designers and manufacturers is bringing devices to market quickly and at competitive prices. To do so, many manufacturers and designers are looking at the test process for potential efficiency gains. Typically, MEMS are tested only after packaging, a lengthy and expensive process. If a device is bad, it must be scrapped including the package. This results in significant costs since many MEMS devices require expensive, hermetically-sealed packages to function properly. Additionally, most test stimuli and measurements are purely electrical, ignoring the unique non-electrical characteristics of MEMS such as pressure, motion, and temperature.

(February 1, 2008) PORTLAND — Electro Scientific Industries Inc., a provider of photonic and laser systems for micro-engineering applications, regrets to announce the passing of former senior VP Edward J. Swenson on January 28. He began his tenure with ESI in 1961, and worked his way up the chain of command throughout the years from applications engineer, earning numerous patents along the way.

January 28, 2008 — Research and Markets has announced the availability of a new book, “Reliability of MEMS”.

The company describes the book as the first “to cover exclusively and in detail the principles, tools and methods for determining the reliability of microelectromechanical materials, components and devices covers both component materials as well as entire MEMS devices.”

The book is divided into two major parts, the first covering the mechanical properties of the materials used in MEMS and the second discussing devices.

The book was written by MEMS researcher Osamu Tabata.

November 19, 2007 – The MEMS Industry Group, a trade association representing MEMS and microstructure industries, and the MicroElectronics Packaging and Test Engineering Council (MEPTEC) have formed a strategic alliance to support each other’s goals and industry events, through a variety of marketing programs.

MEMS device manufacturing presents special challenges, including the ability to withstand electromechanical, thermomechanical and other stressors and still remain robust and reliable, noted MEPTEC president Bette Cooper, in a statement. “Bridging the gap between standard semiconductor packaging and MEMS packaging is one way to address these challenges, and it is this convergence that has been our focus,” she said. “Our collaboration with MEMS Industry Group will help us to further explore this promising technology.”

MIG, “the unifying voice” of the commercial MEMS industry, and MEPTEC, which is “committed to enhancing the competitiveness of the backend portion of the semiconductor business,” will join forces “to address the packaging issues that can further enhance the adoption and commercialization of MEMS,” added MIG managing director Karen Lightman.

Among the joint efforts, the two groups will support each other’s upcoming events. MIG cosponsored MEPTEC’s recent substrates symposium (Nov. 8, Santa Clara, CA). And MIG will conduct a packaging survey at its annual membership’s technical event, METRIC (May 7-9, 2008), and reveal the results at MEPTEC’s annual MEMS Symposium on May 22. Both firms also will cross-promote each other’s events to their respective memberships.

(October 4, 2007) YPSILANTI, MI— Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc. (ISSYS) was awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 2-year project, “Wafer-Scale, Hermetic, Packaging of MEMS-Based Systems,” is aimed towards development of a novel packaging method to simplify the packaging of MEMS and their associated electronics.