Category Archives: MEMS

In its new report MEMS Front-End Manufacturing Trends, Yole Développement goes further in the equipment and materials market forecasts and in the manufacturing trends for MEMS. The report gives detailed analyses about MEMS device technology process flow, manufacturing trends and manufacturing cost breakdown.

Changes in MEMS manufacturing will drive the equipment & materials market from $378M to $512M for equipment and $136M to $248M for materials between 2012-2018

Innovative processes are fueling the MEMS equipment and materials market. Yole Développement forecasts that demand for MEMS-related equipment will grow from an estimated $378M in 2012 to greater than $510M by 2018, at a CAGR of 5.2% over the next five years. Yole Développement’s  MEMS market forecast will follow a cyclical up/downturn similar to what the mainstream IC equipment market underwent.

The demand for materials and related MEMS consumables will grow from an estimated $136M in 2012 to greater than $248M by 2018 at a CAGR of 10.5% over the next five years. 

As MEMS become commodity products, manufacturing will change and mature

Today, MEMS fabrication is still very diversified and lacking in standardization; Yole Développement’s rule, One product, one process, still applies. Indeed, MEMS has a different story than IC and doesn’t follow the same roadmap as the semiconductor industry. Thus, it’s still common to see many players with radically different manufacturing approaches for the same MEMS device, sometimes within the same company (i.e. both the CMOS MEMS and hybrid approaches can be used for inertial devices or microphones).

However, as MEMS becomes a commodity product with a quicker time-to-market compared to previous generations, anything that speeds up the commercialization process is welcome. MEMS packaging is evolving in a different direction than front-end processing, and Yole Développement has already identified that packaging standardization will become increasingly critical in order to support the massive volume growth in unit shipments, and decrease overall costs associated with MEMS and sensor content. For example, microphone packaging is very similar between one manufacturer and another. Additionally, this report shows that at the front-end level, companies are developing in-house technological platforms targeted for different MEMS devices.

In this report, Yole Développement shows that as MEMS moves from competing on process technology to competing on functions and systems, a move towards more standard solutions is necessary to drive down package size and cost.

Currently, MEMS foundries still compete at the process level and have to propose a wide range of processes in order to cope with new MEMS designs and structures. This approach differs from fabless companies, which usually focus on one type of MEMS design. Their main objective is to find the most experienced and reliable foundry partner in order to convince customers of their expertise. IDMs, meanwhile, generally rely on robust and established MEMS processes to manufacture their products. Foundries, which must always remain at the forefront of changes in the MEMS manufacturing landscape, have the biggest challenge.

TSV & unique wafer stacking solutions are key enablers for reducing die size and cost

This report highlights the major front-end manufacturing changes. For example, TSV for CSP is gradually seeping into the MEMS industry.

However, since miniaturization will be limited, new detection principles are currently being developed at various R&D Institutes (i.e. Tronic’s M&NEMS concept) in order to lower MEMS size at the silicon level. This technology is based on piezoresistive nanowires rather than pure capacitive detection, and is poised to be a leap forward in terms of device performance and chip size. This will set the stage for a new generation of combo sensors for motion sensing applications, achieving both significant surface reduction and performance improvement for multi-DOF sensors.

Amongst the large array of MEMS technologies, Yole Développement identified several that will have the widest diffusion in the years to come.

The list includes:

• Through Si Vias

• Room Temperature Bonding

• Thin Films PZT

• Temporary Bonding

• Cavity SOI

• CMOS MEMS

Other MEMS technologies, i.e. gold bonding, could be widely used to reduce die size while maintaining great hermeticity for wafer level packaging.

STM headquartersSTMicroelectronics, or STM, a global semiconductor supplier, announced today that it had reached agreement with Hyundai Autron, the electronics subsidiary of Hyundai Motors Group of Korea, to collaborate together to develop world-class electronic control systems for automotive applications.

ST and Hyundai Autron engineers are beginning the project by targeting semiconductors for power-train applications and specifically for engine management units. The two companies are simultaneously exploring expanding the cooperation into other applications. The effort is starting with using existing ST Application Specific Standard Products in new-generation vehicles expected to sample later this year; jointly-designed products should begin to appear soon after.

ST brings its market-tested, reliable automotive technologies, including industry-leading smart-power technologies, such as BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) to the cooperation. The ST’s smart-power technologies enable effective integration of interface, control, and communication functions together with the power-driver section and a cost-effective implementation of distributed intelligence.

"With electronic systems playing an increasing role in precise vehicle control, outstanding quality and modest cost are both critical to success," said Myunghee Lee, Sr. Vice President of Hyundai Autron. "As a long-time, leading player in automotive and a reliable partner with a broad technology portfolio, in-house manufacturing and proven commitment to automotive, ST was a good fit for us."

"Hyundai Autron, like ST, is highly focused on quality and value in its products and both companies believe ST’s world-class technology, reliability, manufacturing strength and design expertise can make a significant contribution to one of the fastest-growing car brands globally," said Marco Monti, executive vice-president and general manager of STMicroelectronics Automotive Product Group. "We are excited to begin our journey with Hyundai Autron and look forward to helping them achieve their goals."

ST’s automotive products span a broad range of technologies, such as proprietary BCD Smartpower; advanced CMOS; embedded flash; VIPower for motor and LED-lighting control, power discretes (low- and high-voltage silicon, SiC, GaN), CMOS imaging, and MEMS motion sensors used throughout advanced chassis controls, safety systems and navigation devices.

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.

SEMI, in collaboration with strategic investing groups throughout the global semiconductor industry, has announced the Silicon Innovation Forum, or SIF, to bridge funding gaps for new and early-stage companies with valuable semiconductor manufacturing and technology solutions. SIF will be held in conjunction with SEMICON West, on July 9, 2013 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif.  The event will consist of a one-half day conference highlighted by investment presentations from new and emerging companies with innovative technology solutions targeted at next generation semiconductors. The Silicon Innovation Forum is being organized by leading strategic investment groups in the industry including Applied Ventures, Dow Chemical Company, Intel Capital, Micron Ventures, TEL Venture Capital, and Samsung Ventures.

“At a time when the need for new ideas and technologies has never been greater, venture capital and private funding sources for advanced semiconductor technology development has significantly declined over the past decade, threatening the future of Moore’s Law and the economic engine of today’s connected, electronic society,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “The Silicon Innovation Forum will address these funding gaps by providing a platform for new and emerging innovators, strategic investors, and venture capitalists to discuss the needs and requirements for next-generation technologies, and provide insights into technology, capital, partnership, and collaboration strategies necessary for mutual success.”

This unprecedented collaboration of leading strategic investor groups from throughout the world has formed to streamline and accelerate partnership opportunities for technology entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between R&D and product development funding.  The Forum will provide short-term business opportunities for early / mid-stage companies, R&D entrepreneurs from larger companies, and other industry innovators — while addressing long-term structural changes to the industry necessary to foster a healthy innovation pipeline.

New and emerging companies can showcase their innovations through table top and/or poster displays for one-on-one meetings with qualified investors, plus showcase their ideas during short pitches during the SiF Conference.  The SIF Conference will be free to all SEMICON West attendees, but the Innovation Showcase and Reception for one-on-one presentation and meeting opportunities will be restricted to qualified partnership and investor groups.

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.

Ten product categories, led by tablet MPUs and cellphone application MPUs, are forecast to exceed the 6% growth rate forecast for the total IC market this year, according to IC Insights’ 2013 McClean Report.  This report identifies and segments the total IC market into 34 major IC product categories.  Five categories are forecast to enjoy double-digit growth.  The number of categories with positive growth is expected to more than double to 22 in 2013 from 10 in 2012.

Consumer-driven mobile media devices, particularly smartphones and tablet computers, are forecast to keep the tablet MPU (50%) and cellphone application MPU (28%) segments at the top of the growth list for the third consecutive year.  Other IC categories that support mobile systems—including NAND flash (12%) and special-purpose logic devices—are expected to enjoy better-than-industry-average growth in 2013, as well.

Due to increasing demand for higher levels of precision in embedded-processing systems and the growth in connectivity using the Internet, the market for 32-bit MCUs is also forecast to outpace total IC market growth in 2013.  Embedded applications in medical/health systems and smartcards have helped boost the 32-bit MCU market.  In the automotive world, demand for 32-bit MCUs is being driven by “intelligent” car systems such as driver information systems and semi-autonomous driving features such as self-parking, advanced cruise controls, and collision-avoidance systems.  In the next few years, complex 32-bit MCUs are expected to account for over 25% of the processing power in vehicles.

After back-to-back years of steep declines in 2011 and 2012, the DRAM market is forecast to increase 9% in 2013, three points more than the total IC market.  DRAM unit growth is expected to increase only 2%, but the overall average selling price is forecast to jump 7% this year.  In five of the past six years (2007-2012) the DRAM market declined, which took its toll on weaker suppliers.  Fewer suppliers in the marketplace mean fewer competitors trying to undercut each other’s prices in order to gain marketshare and enhances the likelihood of a more stable pricing environment in the coming year.

Interestingly, in a world that is increasingly wireless, two IC categories of “wired” telecom ICs are forecast to grow faster than the total IC market.  Wired telecom—special purpose logic/MPR and wired telecom—application-specific analog are forecast to grow by 13% and 11%, respectively.

Telecom companies and network operators have been upgrading their long-haul and metropolitan-wide communications systems, which require many high-speed transmission ICs and other circuits. New 100Gb/s technology has been ready for deployment since 2009 and is being deployed now. Next-generation transmission technology and ICs for 1 trillion bits per second ("Terabit") networks are in development.

Telecom and network operators say data traffic is increasing more than 50% per year due to growing use of the Internet and video transmissions.  All wireless traffic eventually goes through high-speed cable transmission "backbone" networks—communications are routed over long distance via optical cable before getting to the cellular network on the other end.  All the mobile Internet, data, and video traffic has to go through a cable network and that is driving up the market for wired telecom—special-purpose logic/MPR and wired telecom—application-specific analog.  To a lesser degree, the wired telecom segments are growing on account of developing country markets where the use of landline phones is increasing.

Additional details on IC product markets are included in the 2013 edition of IC Insights’ flagship report, The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry, which features more than 400 tables and graphs in the main report.

solid state thin film batteryVarious power factors have impacted the advancement and development of micro devices. Power density, cell weight, battery life and form factor all have proven significant and cumbersome when considered for micro applications. Markets for solid state thin-film batteries at $65.9 million in 2012 are anticipated to reach $5.95 billion by 2019, according to a new report released by ReportsnReports.com. Market growth is a result of the implementation of a connected world of sensors.

The report points out that development trends are pointing toward integration and miniaturization. Many technologies have progressed down the curve, but traditional batteries have not kept pace. The technology adoption of solid state batteries has implications to the chip grid. One key implication is a drive to integrate intelligent rechargeable energy storage into the chip grid. In order to achieve this requirement, a new product technology has been embraced: solid state rechargeable energy storage devices are far more useful than non-rechargeable devices.

Thin film battery market driving forces include creating business inflection by delivering technology that supports entirely new capabilities. Sensor networks are creating demand for thin film solid state devices. Vendors doubled revenue and almost tripled production volume from first quarter. Multiple customers are moving into production with innovative products after successful trials.

A solid state battery electrolyte is a solid, not porous liquid. The solid is denser than liquid, contributing to the higher energy density. Charging is complex. In an energy-harvesting application, where the discharge is only a little and then there is a trickle back up, the number of recharge cycles goes way up. The cycles increase by the inverse of the depth of discharge. Long shelf life is a benefit of being a solid state battery. The fact that the battery housing does not need to deal with gases and vapors as a part of the charging/discharging process is another advantage of the solid state thin film battery.

Traditional lithium-ion (Li-Ion) technology uses active materials, such as lithium cobalt-oxide or lithium iron phosphate, with particles that range in size between 5 and 20 micrometers. Nano-engineering improves many of the failings of present battery technology. Re-charging time and battery memory are important aspects of nano-structures. Researching battery micro- and nanostructure is a whole new approach that is only just beginning to be explored.

Industrial production of nano batteries requires production of the electrode coatings in large batches so that large numbers of cells can be produced from the same material. Manufacturers using nano materials in their chemistry had to develop unique mixing and handling technologies.

Cymbet millimeter scale solid state battery applications are evolving. In the case of the intra-ocular pressure monitor, it is desirable to place microelectronic systems in very small spaces. Advances in ultra-low power integrated circuits, MEMS sensors and solid state batteries are making these systems a reality. Miniature wireless sensors, data loggers and computers can be embedded in hundreds of applications and millions of locations.