Category Archives: MEMS

A pair of light waves – one zipping clockwise the other counterclockwise around a microscopic track – may hold the key to creating the world’s smallest gyroscope: one a fraction of the width of a human hair. By bringing this essential technology down to an entirely new scale, a team of applied physicists hopes to enable a new generation of phenomenally compact gyroscope-based navigation systems, among other intriguing applications.

“We have found a new detection scheme that may lead to the world’s smallest gyroscope,” said Li Ge, a physicist at the Graduate Center and Staten Island College, City University of New York. “Though these so-called optical gyroscopes are not new, our approach is remarkable both in its super-small size and potential sensitivity.”

Ge and his colleagues – physicist Hui Cao and her student Raktim Sarma, both at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut – recently published their results in The Optical Society’s (OSA) new high-impact journal Optica.

More than creative learning toys, gyroscopes are indispensable components in a number of technologies, including inertial guidance systems, which monitor an object’s motion and orientation. Space probes, satellites, and rockets continuously rely on these systems for accurate flight control. But like so many other essential pieces of aerospace technology, weight is a perennial problem. According to NASA, it costs about $10,000 for every pound lifted into orbit, so designing essential components that are smaller and lighter is a constant struggle for engineers and project managers.

If the size of an optical gyroscope is reduced to just a fraction of a millimeter, as is presented in the new paper, it could then be integrated into optical circuit boards, which are similar to a conventional electric circuit board but use light to carry information instead of electric currents. This could drastically reduce the equipment cost in space missions, opening the possibility for a new generation of micro-payloads.

Putting a New Spin on Light-powered Gyroscopes

Quite different from mechanical gyroscopes, which are currently used on ships for stabilization and rockets for guidance, optical gyroscopes have no moving parts. Instead, dual light waves race around an optical cavity or fiber, constantly passing each other as they travel in opposite directions.

Traditional mechanical gyroscopes use Newton’s laws of motion to maintain stability and orientation. These same physics principles, however, do not apply to light, so measuring motion requires looking for telltale yet very subtle optical signals instead.

One such signal comes from the unusual property of light known as the Sagnac effect, which – put simply – creates a measurable interference pattern when light waves split and then recombine upon leaving a spinning system. Commercial optical gyroscopes build on this principle, with their sizes varying from that of a baseball to a basketball. They could be made much smaller, but measuring rotation would require a much greater level of sensitivity than is currently available.

Making a Gyroscope Out of Light

Traditionally, engineers have used two approaches to make optical gyroscopes, both based on the Sagnac effect. The first one uses an optical cavity – an engineered structure on a crystal – to confine light and the second one uses an optical fiber to guide light.

The second approach has, to date, been most practical because its sensitivity can be easily enhanced by using longer sections of optical fiber (some up to five kilometers long). These lengths of fiber would then be wrapped around an object about five centimeters in diameter, achieving a more manageable size. Though this system is sensitive to rotation, there are practical limits to how long the fiber can be and how small it can be wrapped before the fiber itself is damaged.

To go truly small, optical cavities seem to be the preferable option, where the Sagnac effect manifests as a subtle color change. The problem, however, has been that the sensitivity of this type of optical gyroscopes degrades as the cavity gets smaller.

“This issue was the roadblock that has hindered scientists from developing tiny optical gyroscopes,” noted Ge. “There have been several attempts to get around this limitation, but they could not get around the real problem, the Sagnac effect itself.”

The researchers were able to overcome this hurdle by using a very different principle based on far-field emission. Rather than directly measuring the color change of the light waves, the researchers determined that they could measure the pattern the light produced as it exited the cavity.

“That was our key innovation – finding a new signal with a much improved sensitivity to rotation,” said Ge. “Optical gyroscopes optimized to produce and detect this new signal, we found, could be about 10 microns across – smaller than the cross section of a human hair.”

The idea is similar to rotating an uncovered light bulb. You can’t see any direct spinning, but on small scales, the act of rotation itself causes a small but measurable relativistic effect – slightly bending space in and around the light source. This then almost imperceptibly distorts the pattern on the wall. If measured, however, the speed of rotation can be calculated from the degree of distorting.

Spinning the Gyroscope

To start the new optical gyroscope, light waves are first pumped into the optical cavity. This naturally produces light waves traveling in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. This behavior is similar to plucking a guitar string in the middle, sending vibrations in both directions simultaneously.

By carefully designing the shape of the optical cavity, the researchers were able to control where both waves would exit. Normally, cavities are designed to trap light as long as possible. Here, the researchers needed to balance the light trapping properties of the cavity with the need for some light to escape to create a far-field emission pattern. This pattern is observed by placing a pair of camera-like detectors facing the cavity at different angles that move along with the cavity. This allows them to continuously monitor the pattern for distortions that would reveal the speed of rotation.

Though this only reveals one plane of motion, multiple such sensors at different orientations would be able to give a fully three-dimensional picture of how the object is moving.

Next Steps and Technology Development

According to the researchers, further studies are needed to take into consideration the possibility that many modes, or light paths, exist simultaneously in the cavity. Their far-field emission patterns may change in different ways, which causes a reduction of the sensitivity to rotation. The researchers are currently working on different methods to control this effect.

Pibond Oy, a specialty chemical manufacturer of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced its new product line of liquid spin-on metal oxide hardmask materials. Targeting 10nm node semiconductor processing, 3D NAND, power ICs as well as MEMS applications, this technology enables advanced device manufacturing through reduced cost of ownership (COO) and simplified processing.

With the ever-increasing demand for increased functionality in applications from personal computing to mobile to cloud storage to wearables, the semiconductor industry is targeting smaller and smaller nodes and in so doing has lived up to Gordon Moore’sprediction. However, the limits of current lithography processes and the uncertainty surrounding next generation approaches, compounded by their costs, have cast doubt on whether Moore’s law has finally run “out of steam.”

Pibond’s materials are designed to bridge this gap, providing continuity for existing high-end fabs, while maintaining compatibility for future technology roadmaps. These novel polymers represent the next generation of liquid spin-on hard mask products and are suitable for advanced lithographic patterning, 2.5/3D-IC packaging, as well as MEMS processing.

Pibond’s SAP 100 product line is based on patent pending organo-siloxane modified spin-on metal oxide thin films that are compatible with advanced photoresist lithography and other semiconductor etch processes. The product line offers tunable optical (n&k) properties matching critical requirements of advanced lithography. Furthermore, it shows extraordinary etch resistance in plasma etching processes even at very low film thicknesses. Unlike most conventional hard masks, the Pibond SAP hard mask is applied with low cost spin-on track equipment, enabling high throughput and lowering the overall COO. Importantly, it can be applied with process equipment common in both state-of-the-art and legacy fabs, thus eliminating the need for new and potentially capital-intensive equipment. Future product releases in the SAP-100 family will be directly photopatternable further decreasing process complexity and COO.

“As process throughput and the demand for ever increasing device performance continue to challenge the semiconductor industry, we are happy to announce this new class of products based on advanced metal oxide and siloxane polymers. Capable of extending the runway for existing lithography tools and processes, thereby lowering the operating costs of current and future fabs, they are also paving the way for the future as new technologies like EUV mature,” said Jonathan Glen, Chairman of Pibond. “As the industry demands new materials to meet the needs of EUV lithography, 3D memory, power ICs, image sensors, TSV and MEMS applications, Pibond is well placed to be a driving force in this transition.”

sureCore Ltd., the low power SRAM IP company and nanoelectronics R&D center imec today announced that they are collaborating on low-power SRAM IP. The collaboration includes the licensing of a set of imec SRAM design IP to sureCore to expand sureCore’s IP portfolio and a participation in sureCore. Moreover, sureCore will establish a branch in Leuven to tap into the design ecosystem around imec. The Leuven-based sureCore team will consist of highly experienced designers who built up their expertise at imec and who will be instrumental in the collaboration between sureCore and imec.

“This collaboration is strategically very significant for us,” explained Paul Wells, sureCore’s CEO.  “This will enable expertise to be pooled and shared to drive forward the development of low power SRAM IP solutions.  Imec has world renowned silicon process expertise and an extensive IP portfolio that we will access.”

“We are convinced of the effectiveness of sureCore’s SRAM IP technology to solve the power issues of next generation wearable electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications where extending battery life is crucial.  It is also valuable in the networking space where power and heat dissipation are critical considerations,” added Ludo Deferm, Executive Vice President Corporate, Business and Public Affairs at imec. “By licensing a number of our ultra-low power design technology patents to sureCore, we aim at supporting sureCore to further improve the power efficiency of their SRAM IP blocks.”

Guillaume d’Eyssautier, sureCore’s Chairman, commented, “sureCore has identified the window of opportunity for SRAM IP that offers compelling lower power performance of more than 50 percent savings.  This is caused by the discontinuity in Moore’s Law that means that 1 million transistors will cost more and consume more power at 20nm than at 28nm.  As a result, for many applications, 40/28nm bulk CMOS as well as 28nm FDSOI, will be cost effective for a long time, and being able to cut power consumption with better SRAM IP will make a significant commercial difference. We have run a successful 28nm test chip in March last year that delivered more than 50 percent power savings versus industry-standard SRAMs.”

ULVAC, Inc. this week announced industry’s first low temperature PZT sputtering technology in mass production scale, enabling future advanced MEMS device integrated on CMOS which will be the mainstream of next generation MEMS devices.

Background

Today many sensors such as accelerometers, gyros, and pressure sensors are widely used inside high performance smart phones, tablet PCs, and automobiles enabling the “Smart society” representing the IoT world. The increasing demand and the key element to enable this functionality, is the piezoelectric MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) device, using a piezoelectric thin film material called PZT (lead zirconate titanate, Pb(Zr,Ti)O3). Examples of applications in use are: actuators for auto focus lenses on digital cameras, and inkjet heads for printers.

The future holds that, higher performance, multi-functional and smaller piezoelectric MEMS devices for the next generation of advanced sensor technology is rapidly expanding its applications by the integration with CMOS devices. PZT, Piezo-electric MEMS is one of the most practical MEMS devices available today, however, the process temperature was an obstacle, to integrate the MEMS device directly onto a CMOS device. A CMOS device due to its nature, can only withstand a process temperature of 500 degrees C or lower. A typical crystallization temperature for a PZT thin film is 600 degrees C for sputtering and 700 degrees C for Sol-Gel.

ULVAC has developed world’s first unique innovative technology allowing integration of the piezoelectric MEMS device onto a CMOS device, thus achieving highest level piezoelectric performance, withstand voltage reliability, and cycle performance. This is accomplished by utilizing unique sputtering technology with process temperature below 500 degrees C.

Insight of the Technology

The piezoelectric device, using thin film PZT, is formed by five (5) layers which are: an adhesion layer, a lower electrode layer, a buffer layer, a piezoelectric (PZT) layer, and upper electrode layer. All the accumulated layers are formed sequentially, through one single sputtering system developed by ULVAC. This multi-chamber type sputtering system (model SME-200) allows for consistent process flow, optimizing each individual layer inside each process chamber respectively, achieving highly stable repeatability of the stacked layer performance, and also improving throughput, to that which is that is very suitable for mass production purposes.

Additionally this system is designed to achieve highly uniform and stable process utilizing 8-inch silicon wafers, the largest size substrate available for MEMS device mass production known today. Maximum seven (7) process chamber such as DC and RF magnetron sputtering chamber, RTA (Rapid Thermal Annealing) chamber to accelerate crystallization, and a load-lock chamber are utilized.

The PZT thin film is accumulated by crystal growth on a heated wafer. The sputtering chamber is specifically designed for dielectric material to allow stable deposition process and lead composition control, a character required for highly volatile materials such as PZT. The world’s highest PZT thin film performance level, in mass production is enabled, utilizing a new, low temperature process under 500 degrees C, and ULVAC unique process technology, for applying a buffer layer.

At this week’s OFC 2015, the largest global conference and exposition for optical communications, nanoelectronics research center imec, its associated lab at Ghent University (Intec), and Stanford University have demonstrated a compact germanium (Ge) waveguide electro-absorption modulator (EAM) with a modulation bandwidth beyond 50GHz. Combining state-of-the-art extinction ratio and low insertion loss with an ultra-low capacitance of just 10fF, the demonstrated EAM marks an important milestone for the realization of next-generation silicon integrated optical interconnects at 50Gb/s and beyond.

Future chip-level optical interconnects require integrated optical modulators with stringent requirements for modulation efficiency and bandwidth, as well as for footprint and thermal robustness. In the presented work, imec and its partners have improved the state-of-the-art for Ge EAMs on Si, realizing higher modulation speed, higher modulation efficiency and lower capacitance. This was obtained by fully leveraging the strong confinement of the optical and electrical fields in the Ge waveguides, as enabled in imec’s 200mm Silicon Photonics platform. The EAM was implemented along with various Si waveguide devices, highly efficient grating couplers, various active Si devices, and high speed Ge photodetectors, paving the way to industrial adoption of optical transceivers based on this device.

“This achievement is a milestone for realizing silicon optical transceivers for datacom applications at 50Gb/s and beyond,” stated Joris Van Campenhout, program director at imec. “We have developed a modulator that addresses the bandwidth and density requirements for future chip-level optical interconnects.”

Companies can benefit from imec’s Silicon Photonics platform (iSiPP25G) through established standard cells, or by exploring the functionality of their own designs in Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) runs. The iSiPP25G technology is available via ICLink services and MOSIS, a provider of low-cost prototyping and small volume production services for custom ICs.

Dr. Terry Brewer, founder and CEO of Brewer Science, was presented the Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, at the American Chemical Society’s 249th National Meeting. The award recognizes Dr. Brewer’s innovative global leadership in creating, developing, and manufacturing revolutionary microelectronic products found in today’s technology devices. The award also recognizes his strong support in cultivating the next generation of technology leaders.

“Receiving the Kathryn C. Hach Award is very special to me and our company,” said Dr. Terry Brewer, founder and CEO of Brewer Science. “Kathryn C. Hach is such a strong symbol for small business entrepreneurship and for making a positive difference. The American Chemical Society’s sponsorship of this award is significant and inspiring to all those interested in taking the ‘path less traveled.’ The choice to start your own business not only returns unique value to you, but it also provides you with the opportunity to return unique value to many, many others. The outcomes from my choice to begin a new business are seen in the new products and technologies developed at Brewer Science and in our employees. Our people are engaged in continuous learning and are growing personally and professionally. The energy from learning and growing overflows into the community as employees find creative ways to share and give back. The value has risen exponentially each day for the employees and the community associated with Brewer Science. Thank you for this special recognition. It is an honor.”

Earlier this year, Dr. Terry Brewer was honored with the 2014 SEMI Award for North America. Dr. Brewer was also selected by the Missouri Arts Council to be the recipient of the 2014 Missouri Arts Award for Philanthropy, the state’s highest honor to individuals and institutions that have made profound and lasting contributions to the cultural and artistic landscape of Missouri. Under Dr. Brewer’s leadership, Brewer Science was recognized as one of the Top 50 Employers by Minority Engineer magazine in 2014 and again in 2015. The company received recognition from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a Top Workplace in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, Brewer Science was presented with the Flag of Freedom Award from the Missouri Department of Economic Development for the company’s commitment to consider Missouri veterans for employment through the State of Missouri Show-Me Heroes program.

Following two lethargic years of low growth and some setbacks, worldwide sales of optoelectronics, sensors, actuators, and discrete semiconductors regained strength in 2014 and collectively increased 9 percent to reach an all-time high of $63.8 billion after rising just 1 percent in 2012 and 2013, according to IC Insights’ new 2015 O-S-D Report—A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes.  Modest gains in the global economy, steady increases in electronic systems production, and higher unit demand in 2014 drove a strong recovery in discretes along with substantial improvements in sensors/actuators and greater growth in optoelectronics, says the new 360-page annual report, which becomes available in March 2015.

Each of the three O-S-D market segments are forecast to increase at or above their long-term annual growth rates in 2015 and 2016 (Figure 1) as the global economy continues to gradually improve and major new end-use systems applications boost sales in some of the largest product categories of optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discretes.  After a modest slowdown in 2017, due to the next anticipated economic downturn, all three O-S-D market segments are expected to continue reaching record-high sales in 2018 and 2019, based on the five-year forecast in the new 10th edition of IC Insights’ O-S-D Report.

Optoelectronics sales are now forecast to rise 10 percent in 2015 to set a new record-high $34.8 billion after growing 8 percent in 2014 to reach the current annual peak of $31.6 billion.  Sales of sensors/actuators are also expected to strengthen slightly in 2015, rising 7 percent to $9.9 billion, which will break the current record high of $9.2 billion set in 2014 when this market segment grew 6 percent.  The commodity-filled discretes market is forecast to see a more normal 5 percent increase in 2015 and reach a new record high of $24.2 billion after roaring back in 2014 with a strong 11 percent increase following declines of 7 percent in 2012 and 5 percent in 2013.  The two-year drop was the first back-to-back decline for discretes sales in more than 30 years and primarily resulted from delays in purchases of power transistors and other devices as cautious systems manufacturers kept their inventories low in the midst of uncertainty about the weak global economy and end-user demand.

OSD fig 1

 

In 2014, combined sales of O-S-D accounted for 18 percent of the semiconductor industry’s $354.9 billion in total revenues compared to 16 percent in 2004 and 13 percent in 1994.  (Optoelectronics was 9 percent of the 2014 sales total with sensors/actuators being 3 percent, discretes at 6 percent and ICs accounting for 82 percent, or $290.8 billion, last year).  On the strength of optoelectronics and sensor products—including CMOS image sensors, high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and devices built with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology—total O-S-D sales have outpaced the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ICs since the late 1990s.  IC Insights’ new report shows this trend continuing between 2014 and 2019 with combined O-S-D sales projected to grow by a CAGR of 6.9 percent versus 5.5 percent for ICs.

The 2015 O-S-D Report shows strong optoelectronics growth being driven in the next five years by new embedded cameras and image-recognition systems made with CMOS imaging devices as well as the spread of LED-based solid-state lights and high-speed fiber optic networks built with laser transmitters that are needed to keep up with tremendous increases in Internet traffic, video transmissions, and cloud-computing services, including those connected to the huge potential of the Internet of Things (IoT). The sensors/actuators market is forecast to see steady growth from high unit demand driven by the spread of automated embedded-control functions, new sensing networks, wearable systems, and measurement capabilities being connected to IoT in the second half of this decade.  Discretes sales are expected to climb higher primarily due to strong growth in power transistors and other devices used in battery-operated electronics and to make all types of systems more energy efficient—including automobiles, high-density servers in Internet data centers, industrial equipment, and home appliances.

Bosch #1

Bosch reinforced its leadership in the MEMS industry in 2014 with a 16.6 percent increase to $1167 million up from $1001 million in 2013. Bosch alone held 12 percent of the very fragmented MEMS market in 2014 compared to 11 percent in 2012.

Bosch took the leadership in 2013 thanks to its design in the Apple iPhone 5s and iPad with its accelerometer. Apple boosted Bosch’s MEMS revenue in 2014 again as Bosch is the sole supplier of the pressure sensors added to the iPhone 6 and 6+. Besides Apple, Bosch enjoyed a strong growth of its motion combo sensors with Sony both for gaming with the Sony PS4 and for handsets and tablets. Bosch started going after the consumer MEMS market in 2005 when it created Bosch Sensortec. It added MEMS microphone to its portfolio with the acquisition of Akustica in 2009. Bosch’s bet on consumer applications paid off as this segment now accounted for a third of Bosch’s total MEMS revenue in 2014 compared to less than 18 percent in 2012.

The legacy automotive business continues to dominate Bosch’s MEMS revenue with 67 percent in 2014. Bosch is the undisputed leader in automotive MEMS with 30 percent market shares in 2014 and with revenue more than three times as high as the 2nd largest Automotive MEMS maker Denso.

Texas Instrument #2

Texas Instrument enjoyed a rebound of its Digital Light Processing business in 2014 with an estimated $805 million up from $709 million in 2013. The business growth in 2014 was seen mostly in the main business line of DLP business projector segment using TI’s Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). TI’s DLP business had declined from 2010 to 2013 as Epson – TI’s DLP’s main competitor with its (non-MEMS) LCD technology – won shares in the projector business. Also the business projector market suffered in the past few years from the competition from low cost LCD flat panels being used as an alternative to projectors for many conference rooms, especially in Asia region. TI won back shares in the projection display market against Epson’s LCD technology last year.

STMicroelectronics #3

ST’s MEMS business suffered a 19 percent decline in revenue from $777 million to $630 million. ST is still the #1 MEMS manufacturer for consumer and mobile applications with 15 percent of this segment. The historical MEMS business of ST i.e. motion sensors for consumer applications has been hit as ST lost its spot in the latest iPhone for the accelerometer in 2013 and for the gyroscope in 2014 and as well as for the combo motion sensors in the Samsung Galaxy S5. In this game of musical chair ST mitigated the damage however by winning 100 percent of the pressure sensor in the Galaxy S5.

ST has laid in 2014 the foundation for a rebound of its MEMS business in 2015. Especially ST’s MEMS microphone is growing very fast thanks to the design win in the iPhone 6 in addition to ST’s existing microphone sales into the iPad. ST’s MEMS microphone shipment grew more than 2.5 times in 2014 and IHS expects the Apple design win to attract further customers.

The decline of inkjet makers (HP #4th and Canon #7th) 

HP #4th and Canon #7th continue to see the revenue associated to their MEMS inkjet printheads declining. Canon saw a slight decline of its inkjet printer sales. Sales of inkjet printers were up 1 percent for HP in 2014 but the shipment of inkjet is declining since HP started the transition from disposable printheads (which are part of the ink cartridge) to permanent printheads in 2006.

Knowles #5 

After enjoying a 19 percent and 50 percent growth respectively in 2012 and 2013, Knowles saw its MEMS microphone revenue decline 9 percent from $505 to $460 million in 2014. While Apple was largely responsible for the formidable year 2013 as Knowles won a second spot in the iPhone 5S, the decline in 2014 was also related to the iPhone. Early teardowns by IHS of the iPhone 6 and 6+ reveal that Knowles was present with ST and AAC in the first batch of iPhones. Knowles dropped out of the supply chain however due to a technical defect leaving the business to ST, AAC and the new-comer Goertek. Still Knowles remains by far the top MEMS microphone supplier with more than 45 percent units shares. It is also the second largest MEMS manufacturer for consumer and mobile applications with 12 percent revenue share. IHS believes that Knowles will resume with revenue growth in 2015 as it starts shipping to Apple again.

BAW filters makers continue to thrive on LTE (Avago #6th and TriQuint)

Avago and TriQuint grew 6 percent and 15 percent respectively their MEMS based BAW filter business. The LTE band is a boon for the two BAW filter makers, especially in the 2.3 GHz to 2.7 GHz bands, as BAW devices perform better than SAW filters at these frequencies, and solve the coexistence issues of Wi-Fi and LTE. The BAW filter market is currently experiencing resurgence thanks to LTE and as the number of bands of in handsets keeps increasing.

InvenSense # 8

InvenSense was the fastest growing company in the top 10 with an impressive 34 percent jump to $332 million. The vast majority of his jump comes from InvenSense win of the 6-axis motion combo sensor in the iPhone 6 and 6+. InvenSense has also been very successful with its gyroscope built into camera modules for Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

Freescale # 10

Rounding up the top 10, Freescale saw its MEMS revenue grow 6 percent to $271 million in 2014. Automotive continue to make up for around 80 percent of Freescale’s. Freescale enjoyed especially a robust expansion of its pressure sensor sales for Tire Pressure Monitoring Applications.

In March 2015 NXP and Freescale announced a merger. There is no overlap on the sensor side. NXP has had various MEMS developments in the past 10 years (RF MEMS switches, MEMS timing…) but nothing has come in production yet. NXP is however one of the leading magnetic sensor suppliers for automotive. The new entity will become the leading merchant supplier of automotive semiconductor sensors with a very strong positon in chassis and safety applications especially. NXP is also the leading suppliers of microcontrollers used as sensor hubs as it produces the sensor hubs for the Apple iPhone and iPads.

Reference: IHS MEMS Market Tracker Q1 2015

top 10 mems -2

University of Washington scientists have built a new nanometer-sized laser — using the thinnest semiconductor available today — that is energy efficient, easy to build and compatible with existing electronics.

Lasers play essential roles in countless technologies, from medical therapies to metal cutters to electronic gadgets. But to meet modern needs in computation, communications, imaging and sensing, scientists are striving to create ever-smaller laser systems that also consume less energy.

The ultra-thin semiconductor, which is about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, stretches across the top of the photonic cavity. Credit: University of Washington

The ultra-thin semiconductor, which is about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, stretches across the top of the photonic cavity. Credit:
University of Washington

The UW nanolaser, developed in collaboration with Stanford University, uses a tungsten-based semiconductor only three atoms thick as the “gain material” that emits light. The technology is described in a paper published in the March 16 online edition of Nature.

“This is a recently discovered, new type of semiconductor which is very thin and emits light efficiently,” said Sanfeng Wu, lead author and a UW doctoral candidate in physics. “Researchers are making transistors, light-emitting diodes, and solar cells based on this material because of its properties. And now, nanolasers.”

Nanolasers — which are so small they can’t be seen with the eye — have the potential to be used in a wide range of applications from next-generation computing to implantable microchips that monitor health problems. But nanolasers so far haven’t strayed far from the research lab.

Other nanolaser designs use gain materials that are either much thicker or that are embedded in the structure of the cavity that captures light. That makes them difficult to build and to integrate with modern electrical circuits and computing technologies.

The UW version, instead, uses a flat sheet that can be placed directly on top of a commonly used optical cavity, a tiny cave that confines and intensifies light. The ultrathin nature of the semiconductor — made from a single layer of a tungsten-based molecule — yields efficient coordination between the two key components of the laser.

The UW nanolaser requires only 27 nanowatts to kickstart its beam, which means it is very energy efficient.

Other advantages of the UW team’s nanolaser are that it can be easily fabricated, and it can potentially work with silicon components common in modern electronics. Using a separate atomic sheet as the gain material offers versatility and the opportunity to more easily manipulate its properties.

“You can think of it as the difference between a cell phone where the SIM card is embedded into the phone versus one that’s removable,” said co-author Arka Majumdar, UW assistant professor of electrical engineering and of physics.

“When you’re working with other materials, your gain medium is embedded and you can’t change it. In our nanolasers, you can take the monolayer out or put it back, and it’s much easier to change around,” he said.

The researchers hope this and other recent innovations will enable them to produce an electrically-driven nanolaser that could open the door to using light, rather than electrons, to transfer information between computer chips and boards.

The current process can cause systems to overheat and wastes power, so companies such as Facebook, Oracle, HP, Google and Intel with massive data centers are keenly interested in more energy-efficient solutions.

Using photons rather than electrons to transfer that information would consume less energy and could enable next-generation computing that breaks current bandwidth and power limitations. The recently proven UW nanolaser technology is one step toward making optical computing and short distance optical communication a reality.

“We all want to make devices run faster with less energy consumption, so we need new technologies,” said co-author Xiaodong Xu, UW associate professor of materials science and engineering and of physics. “The real innovation in this new approach of ours, compared to the old nanolasers, is that we’re able to have scalability and more controls.”

Still, there’s more work to be done in the near future, Xu said. Next steps include investigating photon statistics to establish the coherent properties of the laser’s light.

With an impressive 20 percent growth in MEMS revenue compared to 2013, and sales revenues of more than $1.2B, Robert Bosch GmbH is the clear #1.

illus_top30mems_march2015

From Yole Développement’s yearly analysis of “TOP 100 MEMS Players,” analysts have released the “2014 TOP 20 MEMS Players Ranking.” This ranking shows the clear emergence of what could be a future “MEMS titan”: Robert Bosch (Bosch). Driven by MEMS for smartphone sales – including pressure sensors -, Bosch’s MEMS revenue increased by 20 percent in 2014, and totaling $1.2B. The gap between Bosch and STMicroelectronics now stands at more than $400M

“The top five remains unchanged from 2013, but Bosch now accounts for one-third of the $3.8B MEMS revenue shared by the top five MEMS companies. Together, these five companies account for around one- third of the total MEMS business,” details Jean-Christophe Eloy, President & CEO, Yole Développement (Yole). “It’s also interesting to see that among the top thirty players, almost every one increased its revenue in 2014,” he adds.

In other noteworthy news, Texas Instruments’ sales saw a slight increase thanks to its DLP projection business. RF companies also enjoyed impressive growth, with a 23 percent increase for Avago Technologies (close to $400M) and a 141 percent increase for Qorvo (formerly TriQuint), to $350M.

Meanwhile, the inertial market keeps growing. This growth is beneficial to InvenSense, which continues its rise with a 32 percent increase in 2014, up to $329M revenue. Accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers are not the only devices contributing to MEMS companies’ growth. Pressure sensors also made a nice contribution, especially in automotive and consumer sectors. Specifically, Freescale Semiconductor saw a 33 percent increase in pressure revenue, driven by the Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) business for automotive. On the down side, ink jet head companies still face hard times, with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Canon both seeing revenues decrease. However, new markets are being targeted. Though thus far limited to consumer printers, MEMS technology is set to expand into the office and industrial markets as a substitute for laser printing technology (office) and inkjet piezo machining technology (for industrial & graphics).

“What we see is an industry that will generally evolve in four stages over the next 25 years. This is true for both CMOS Image Sensors and MEMS,” explains Dr Eric Mounier, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, MEMS devices & Technologies at Yole. He explains: “The “opening stage” generally begins when the top three companies hold no more than 10 – 30 percent market share. Later on, the industry enters the “scale stage” through consolidation, when the top three increases its collective market share to 45 percent.”

According to Yole, the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company, MEMS industry has now entered the “Expansion Stage.”

“Key players are expanding, and we’re starting to see some companies surpassing others (i.e. Bosch’s rise to the top). If we follow this model, the next step will be the “Balance & Alliance” stage, characterized by the top three holding up to 90 percent of market share”, comments Dr Mounier.

Among the 10 or so MEMS titans currently sharing most of the MEMS markets, Yole’s analysts have separated them into two categories:

  • “Titans with Momentum” and “Struggling Titans”. In the first category we include Bosch, InvenSense, Avago Technologies and Qorvo. Bosch’s case is particularly noteworthy, since it’s currently the only MEMS company with dual markets (automotive and consumer) and the right R&D/production infrastructure.
  • On the “Struggling Titans” side, Yole identifies STMicroelectronics, HP, Texas Instruments, Canon, Knowles, Denso and Panasonic. These companies are currently struggling to find an efficient growth engine.

 

Without question, both Bosch and InvenSense are growing, while others like STMicroelectronics and Knowles are suffering a slow-down or MEMS sales decrease.

Another interesting fact about Yole’s 2014 TOP MEMS Ranking is that there are no new entrants (and thus no exits).

More market figures and analysis on MEMS, the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables can be found in Yole’s 2014 IoT report (Technologies & Sensors for Internet of Things: Business & Market Trends, June 2014), and the upcoming “Sensors for Wearables and Mobile” report.

Also, Yole is currently preparing the 2015 release of its “MEMS Industry Status.” This will be issued in April and will delve deeper into MEMS markets, strategies and players analyses.