Category Archives: MEMS

September 4, 2012 – Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME), a research institute of the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and MOSIS have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to offer a multiple-project wafer (MPW) service targeting silicon integrated photonics.

The goal of the collaboration is to reduce the cost obstacles and promote broader adoption of silicon photonics devices for the industry. The partnership specifically involves sharing costs for the fabrication, the reticles or masks, the setup and use of the design environment. Photonics designers and researchers will also have access to IME’s device library that includes integrated active and passive devices.

The two partners also are collaborating on multiproject runs for 3D through-silicon vias (TSV) and silicon interposers (TSI), and MEMS devices. These will be available at the end of 2012 and in 1H13, respectively.

"By leveraging the expertise and resources of one of the world’s leading semiconductor research institutes, our partnership with IME will develop efficient and practical approaches in the area of silicon photonics to meet the increasing requirements of industry," stated Wes Hansford, director of MOSIS.

"We look forward to offering our MPW capabilities to the silicon photonics community to enable innovations and product development to accelerate the growth of the silicon photonics industry," added Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, executive director of IME.

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Scientists at Fraunhofer Research Institution for Modular Solid State Technologies EMFT, together with Ketek GmbH, have developed a novel, silicon-based optical sensor component called a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM). The module is immune against magnetic radiation, which is essential for combining PET and MRT, which is an efficient hybrid diagnosis method. The device also has  in other low light applications such as space exploration , high frequency physics, life sciences and, in general, detecting weak light signals in analytical instruments.

The sensor component developed by the scientists in Munich has several advantages compared to traditional technology. The lower operating voltage eases the device design. Due to improved temperature stability of the components, less cooling of the equipment is necessary. This results in reduced manufacturing complexity and cost. A low dark count rate eases the detection of the target signal, thus increasing the efficiency. The single components show very homogeneous properties, which facilitates the parallelization of several detector components into one block detector, quite unlike traditional photomultiplier.

Medical imaging is critical in modern medicine for reliable diagnostics of health problems such as  neurological illnesses, apoplexy and cancer. Such imaging technologies are used for x-ray and ultrasonic examinations, Magnet Resonance Tomography (MRT) as well as Positron-Emission-Tomography (PET).

MRT records only the morphology and function of a patient, whereas PET can show a body’s metabolism by means of minute radioactively marked particle. In the future, illnesses could be discovered in an earlier stage and their progress could be monitored more effectively using a hybrid MR-PET technology. Moreover, MR-PET could facilitate the understanding of such illnesses as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression and schizophrenia, as well as help refining surgical techniques. Additionally the radiation stress to patients could be significantly reduced, compared to the currently used CT-PET technology.

The biggest obstacle in combining PET and MRT to one device so far has been, that traditional Photomultipliers could not operate in a magnetic field without significant loss of efficiency. Due to their small size, the SiPMs developed by Fraunhofer EMFT are not affected by the surrounding magnetic field. The small size also makes them more efficient and faster than the avalanche diodes used in the first MR-

Fraunhofer EMFT conducts research and development in open, modular, application oriented system technologies in the fields of micro electronics and micro system engineering with approximately 110 employees in Munich and Regensburg.

Caption: A Fraunhofer EMFT scientist with a Silicon Photomultiplier Wafer for medical applications.

August 23, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), a technology licensing company, will undergo a restructuring and related cost saving measures to cut its expenses by$30-35 million annually. The majority of the reduction in expenses are being made in general and administrative, while the company continues to invest in strategic businesses.

 “After reviewing our expenses in detail, we have concluded that the support infrastructure can be reduced to improve profitability,” said Dr. Ronald Black, Rambus CEO. This includes a 15% cut to its workforce and a new, 3-business organization structure around memory and interfaces, lighting and display technologies, and Cryptography Research Inc.

Rambus recently partnered with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan on the development of interconnect and 3D packaging technologies.

“While we have refined some of our R&D investments, we are preserving all of our strategic initiatives as we believe they will drive significant growth in the future,” Black added. The engineering design teams, Rambus Labs, and other strategic initiatives will be consolidated under Dr. Martin Scott, who will take the new role of CTO.

The reductions in expense and associated workforce will be completed in 2012. Satish Rishi, Rambus CFO, stated: “We expect to take a charge for severance, on a cash basis, of approximately $6 million over the next two quarters. We are also reviewing our assets, businesses, and other contractual obligations and may take additional charges by the end of the year. Excluding these charges, and including additional investment in strategic initiatives, we expect significant net cash savings of approximately $30-$35 million annually.” Jerome Nadel will be joining Rambus as chief marketing officer, responsible for repositioning the company and creating closer relationships with customers.

Business units:

 -Memory and Interfaces, led by Kevin Donnelly

 -Cryptography Research Inc., led by Paul Kocher

 -Lighting and Display Technologies, led by Jeffery Parker.

Rambus is a technology licensing company. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

August 23, 2012 — The MEMS & NANO free 2-day conference, presented by JEMI, Nanotechnology KTN, and MANCEF, will cover advances in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoscale processes for electronics, industrial and biomedical applications.

This seminar program notes the strong trade bodies and active supply chain for MEMS and nanotechnology in the UK. It takes place September 25-26 at NEC, Birmingham, UK.

Presenters come from diverse companies and leaders in nanotechnologies and MEMS, such as the presenting bodies and Freescale Semiconductor, Interposers GmbH, Diamond Hard Coatings Ltd, Kelvin Nanotechnology, Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology, Microfluidic Chipshop, and others from industry and academia.

Learn more at www.mmnliveuk.com.

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August 21, 2012 — Heptagon, wafer-level optics maker, ordered an advanced DWL 2000 maskless lithography system from Heidelberg Instruments. The tool has sophisticated Gray Scale Exposure capability. 

Heptagon will use the system for production of micro optical components for applications in smart phones, mobile devices, gaming consoles, telecoms equipment and supercomputers.

“Gray Scale lithography technology can produce complicated, random, and smoothly or discontinuously contoured material surfaces with a variety of applications in modern optical systems. This order is a significant step to solidify our position as a global leader in production of direct write systems for applications in Gray Scale Lithography,” said Alexander Forozan, head of global sales and business development, Heidelberg Instruments

Heptagon is a developer and manufacturer of advanced micro-optics solutions, making wafer-level micro optics in large volumes for sophisticated applications in smart phones, mobile devices, gaming consoles, telecoms equipment and supercomputers.  

Heidelberg Instruments GmbH produces high-precision maskless lithography systems for direct writing and photomask production in the areas of MEMS, BioMEMS, Nano Technology, ASICS, TFT, Plasma Displays, Micro Optics, and many other related applications. Internet: www.himt.de.

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August 21, 2012 – Marketwire — Silex Technology, maker of wired and wireless networking technologies, appointed Joseph Virginia to vice president of sales and a member of the company’s executive team.

Virginia will oversee Silex’s sales activities and be responsible for executing aggressive revenue growth objectives. With over 25 years’ of electronics and technology experience, Virginia will lead the sales team to provide exceptional customer service by managing individual relationships and account needs.

David Smith, president and CEO of Silex Technology America, says Virginia will lead the expansion of Silex’s embedded wireless business while finding new applications for device servers/connectivity and AV networking product lines.

Virginia has a background in sales as well as applications engineering, business development, and marketing and product management, most recently from Qualcomm MEMS Technologies. Prior to that, he was responsible for global supply chain management for flat displays, touch screen solutions and MEMS inertial sensors at Cisco Systems. Virginia also held senior-level positions at iFire Technology Group, Samsung Semiconductor and Synaptics. He began his sales career at Fujitsu Microelectronics and is credited with the first commercial installation of large screen color plasma display technology as part of the New York Stock Exchange’s $200 million technology investment. Virginia holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cleveland State University.

Silex Technology America Inc. is a subsidiary of Silex Technology Inc., a network technology company specializing in network and wireless technology, providing hardware, software, embedded modules and turnkey connectivity products. For more information, please visit www.silexamerica.com.

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August 20, 2012 – Marketwire — The second annual SensorsCon 2013, the conference for Sensors Technology, Design and Applications, March 6, 2013, Techmart Center, Santa Clara, CA, is accepting applications for exhibitors, sponsors and speakers.

The event is an important forum for presenting and showcasing the latest research, development, application, and business opportunities in sensors technology and applications. The conference attracts researchers, developers, industry stakeholders and practitioners from many diverse fields active in this arena.

SensorsCon focuses on micro and nano electro mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), semiconductor and other technologies for sensor design and integration for optical, magnetic, magneto inductive, electronic and inertial applications.

Additional topics include sensor apps for mobile devices, medicine, biology, smart grid, chemical and gas, motion, position, control, entertainment, gaming, biometrics, power management, energy, environmental monitoring, consumer, military, automotive, robotics, data acquisition, integrated systems, interfaces, intelligent sensing, integrated actuator systems, remote sensing, telemetry, communications, wireless sensor networks (WSN), oceanographic & nautical, aeronautical and space.

The conference on Sensors – Technology, Design, and Applications (SensorsCon) is the forum to present, highlight and discuss the latest research, development, application, and business opportunities in sensors technology and applications in various fields.

Applications for SensorsCon sponsors and exhibits are located at  http://www.sensorscon.org/English/For_Sponsors/Sponsor_Opportunities.html.

Speakers are invited to send inquiries to [email protected].

Suggested topics are at http://www.sensorscon.org/English/Conference/About.html.

To register, please visit www.sensorscon.org.

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August 20, 2012 — With growing demands from smart phones, tablets and other applications, combined with the Taiwan’s developing foundry and device industry, the region has become the center of many important developments in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. To meet the needs of the booming MEMS market, Taiwan has built a comprehensive supply chain and plays a critical role in the MEMS industry. SEMICON Taiwan 2012, held September 5-7 at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, will feature both Taiwan MEMS suppliers and global MEMS elites — including Asia Pacific Microsystems, Freescale, InvenSense, and STMicroelectronics — who will discuss innovation in MEMS design, manufacture, packaging, testing and equipment.

More on SEMICON Taiwan: SEMICON Taiwan to spotlight growing market opps in Taiwan and Second annual SiP Global Summit

The latest Yole Développement market research report pointed out MEMS reached a size of US$ 10 billion in 2011, a growth of 17 percent. The industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent over the next few years to reach $20 billion by 2017. Market research firm IC Insights reported that embedded applications including accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetic sensors and other IC-based sensors will see CAGR of 18 percent before 2016, indicating a bright future for the MEMS industry.

"In addition to the demands from the consumer market, MEMS has applications in other arenas including manufacturing, medicine, energy, optic communications and air defense," said Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Taiwan and Southeast Asia. "To meet these niche markets mentioned above, this year SEMICON Taiwan, along with related local and international companies, will showcase MEMS Pavilion, MEMS Forum, MEMS Innovative Technology Center, and University MEMS Research. The goal is to boost Taiwan’s MEMS industry, make inroads into the international market, and capitalize on the technology’s growth."

The SEMICON Taiwan 2012 MEMS Pavilion, organized by SEMI and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and co-organized by the Nanotechnology and Micro System Association, will feature Asia Pacific Microsystems, Ardic Instruments and Keyence, among others, and display the most advanced MEMS technology and solutions. In addition, to strengthen industry-academic collaboration, SEMI is organizing a University MEMS Research area showcasing the latest from academic institutions.

The MEMS Forum held on September 6 will be co-hosted by Min-Shyong Lin, honorary chairman and founder of Asia Pacific Microsystems; Chih-Kung Lee, president of Institute for Information Industry; and Robert Tsai, director of TSMC MEMS Program.  In the morning session, Jean-Christophe Eloy, president and CEO of Yole Développement, will speak on MEMS industry trends and outlook; Steve Nasiri, chairman, CEO and founder of InvenSense, will address tracking systems; Benedetto Vigna, MEMS group executive vice president and general manager of STMicroelectronics, will speak on mobile applications; Stéphane Gervais-Ducouret, Global Marketing director for Sensors at Freescale, will talk about MEMS at all levels; and Heinz Ru, vice president of Marketing and Innovation at Tong Hsing Electronic Industries, will focus on MEMS packaging.

In the afternoon session, Yii-Tay Chiou, Cloud Service Application Center executive assistant at  ITRI, will introduce MEMS applications in personal care; Chii-Wann Lin, professor of National Taiwan University, will discuss MEMS applications in biotech; Markus Wimplinger, Technology Development and IP director at EVG will speak on mobile applications from a manufacturing perspective; Michael Hornung, technical marketing manager of SUSS MicroTec and Andreas Bursian, product manager of Multitest, will address challenges in MEMS production and testing respectively.

Register SEMICON Taiwan 2012 at: www.semicontaiwan.org. SEMI is a global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. For more information on SEMI, visit www.semi.org.

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August 17, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Big data, 3D printing, activity streams, Internet TV, Near Field Communication (NFC) payment, cloud computing and media tablets are some of the fastest-moving technologies identified in Gartner Inc.’s 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.

Gartner analysts said that these technologies have moved noticeably along the Hype Cycle since 2011, while consumerization is now expected to reach the Plateau of Productivity in two to five years, down from five to 10 years in 2011. Bring your own device (BYOD), 3D printing and social analytics are some of the technologies identified at the Peak of Inflated Expectations in this year’s Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle (see the figure).

Gartner’s 2012 Hype Cycle Special Report provides strategists and planners with an assessment of the maturity, business benefit and future direction of more than 1,900 technologies, grouped into 92 areas. New Hype Cycles this year include big data, the Internet of Things, in-memory computing and strategic business capabilities.

The Hype Cycle graphic has been used by Gartner since 1995 to highlight the common pattern of over-enthusiasm, disillusionment and eventual realism that accompanies each new technology and innovation. The Hype Cycle Special Report is updated annually to track technologies along this cycle and provide guidance on when and where organizations should adopt them for maximum impact and value.

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report is the longest-running annual Hype Cycle, providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that senior executives, CIOs, strategists, innovators, business developers and technology planners should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios.

"Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies targets strategic planning, innovation and emerging technology professionals by highlighting a set of technologies that will have broad-ranging impact across the business," said Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner fellow. "It is the broadest aggregate Gartner Hype Cycle, featuring technologies that are the focus of attention because of particularly high levels of hype, or those that Gartner believes have the potential for significant impact."

"The theme of this year’s Hype Cycle is the concept of ‘tipping points.’ We are at an interesting moment, a time when many of the scenarios we’ve been talking about for a long time are almost becoming reality," said Hung LeHong, research vice president at Gartner. "The smarter smartphone is a case in point. It’s now possible to look at a smartphone and unlock it via facial recognition, and then talk to it to ask it to find the nearest bank ATM. However, at the same time, we see that the technology is not quite there yet. We might have to remove our glasses for the facial recognition to work, our smartphones don’t always understand us when we speak, and the location-sensing technology sometimes has trouble finding us."

Although the Hype Cycle presents technologies individually, Gartner encourages enterprises to consider the technologies in sets or groupings, because so many new capabilities and trends involve multiple technologies working together. Often, one or two technologies that are not quite ready can limit the true potential of what is possible. Gartner refers to these technologies as "tipping point technologies" because, once they mature, the scenario can come together from a technology perspective.

Some of the more significant scenarios, and the tipping point technologies, need to mature so that enterprises and governments can deliver new value and experiences to customers and citizens include:

Any Channel, Any Device, Anywhere — Bring Your Own Everything

The technology industry has long talked about scenarios in which any service or function is available on any device, at anytime and anywhere. This scenario is being fueled by the consumerization trend that is making it acceptable for enterprise employees to bring their own personal devices into the work environment. The technologies and trends featured on this Hype Cycle that are part of this scenario include BYOD, hosted virtual desktops, HTML5, the various forms of cloud computing, silicon anode batteries and media tablets. Although all these technologies and trends need to mature for the scenario to become the norm, HTML 5, hosted virtual networks and silicon anode batteries are particularly strong tipping point candidates.

Smarter Things

A world in which things are smart and connected to the Internet has been in the works for more than a decade. Once connected and made smart, things will help people in every facet of their consumer, citizen and employee lives. There are many enabling technologies and trends required to make this scenario a reality. On the 2012 Hype Cycle, Gartner has included autonomous vehicles, mobile robots, Internet of Things, big data, wireless power, complex-event processing, Internet TV, activity streams, machine-to-machine communication services, mesh networks: sensor, home health monitoring and consumer telematics. The technologies and trends that are the tipping points to success include machine-to-machine communication services, mesh networks: sensor, big data, complex-event processing and activity streams.

Big Data and Global Scale Computing at Small Prices

This broad scenario portrays a world in which analytic insight and computing power are nearly infinite and cost-effectively scalable. Once enterprises gain access to these resources, many improved capabilities are possible, such as better understanding customers or better fraud reduction. The enabling technologies and trends on the 2012 Hype Cycle include quantum computing, the various forms of cloud computing, big data, complex-event processing, social analytics, in-memory database management systems, in-memory analytics, text analytics and predictive analytics. The tipping point technologies that will make this scenario accessible to enterprises, governments and consumers include cloud computing, big data and in-memory database management systems.

The Human Way to Interact With Technology

This scenario describes a world in which people interact a lot more naturally with technology. The technologies on the Hype Cycle that make this possible include human augmentation, volumetric and holographic displays, automatic content recognition, natural-language question answering, speech-to-speech translation, big data, gamification, augmented reality, cloud computing, NFC, gesture control, virtual worlds, biometric authentication methods and speech recognition. Many of these technologies have been "emerging" for multiple years and are starting to become commonplace, however, a few stand out as tipping point technologies including natural-language question answering and NFC.

What Payment Could Really Become

This scenario envisions a cashless world in which every transaction is an electronic one. This will provide enterprises with efficiency and traceability, and consumers with convenience and security. The technologies on the 2012 Hype Cycle that will enable parts of this scenario include NFC payment, mobile over the air (OTA) payment and biometric authentication methods. Related technologies will also impact the payment landscape, albeit more indirectly. These include the Internet of Things, mobile application stores and automatic content recognition. The tipping point will be surpassed when NFC payment and mobile OTA payment technologies mature.

The Voice of the Customer Is on File

Humans are social by nature, which drives a need to share — often publicly. This creates a future in which the "voice of customers" is stored somewhere in the cloud and can be accessed and analyzed to provide better insight into them. The 2012 Hype Cycle features the following enabling technologies and trends: automatic content recognition, crowdsourcing, big data, social analytics, activity streams, cloud computing, audio mining/speech analytics and text analytics. Gartner believes that the tipping point technologies are privacy backlash and big data.

3D Print It at Home

In this scenario, 3D printing allows consumers to print physical objects, such as toys or housewares, at home, just as they print digital photos today. Combined with 3D scanning, it may be possible to scan certain objects with a smartphone and print a near-duplicate. Analysts predict that 3D printing will take more than five years to mature beyond the niche market.

Additional information is available in "Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2012" at www.gartner.com/hypecycles. Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT) is a leading information technology research and advisory company.

August 16, 2012 — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor and micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturer, launched the 2012 iNEMO Design Contest for Singapore. The contest invites final-year engineering students from the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to develop innovative applications using ST’s iNEMO smart multi-sensor MEMS technology.

ST has run the competition for North America, Taiwan and China.

ST’s iNEMO is a unique evaluation and development tool that offers up to 10 degrees of freedom, using combinations of 3-axis linear acceleration, 3-axis angular rate and 3-axis motion sensing through a magnetic field, together with barometric/altitude readings, managed by an STM32 32-bit microcontroller. MEMS sensing technology is one of the fastest growing segments of the semiconductor industry and has become ubiquitous in cars, smartphones, gaming devices and many IT products. The integration of multiple sensors with processing capabilities, dedicated sensor-fusion and application software and wireless connectivity in a single platform enables leaps in functionality and performance in a wide variety of applications, including Gaming, Human Machine Interface, Robotics, Portable Navigation Devices, and Patient Monitoring.

“Sensing technology has enabled your smartphone to know your movements and is the technology responsible for the physical excitement of motion-based video games,” said Patrick Boulaud, STMicroelectronics Regional Vice President, Analog, MEMS and Sensor, Greater China and South Asia Region. “Sensors have the potential to augment many aspects of human and technology interaction, particularly in quality-of-life enhancement. We are challenging these students to think out-of-the-box and create new applications in lifestyle, recreation, healthcare and wellness, using the most advanced sensor technology available today.”

“Advanced sensor technologies are important in enhancing the apps we have in all our personal devices,” said Prof Loh Ai Poh, Deputy Head of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore. “This contest is a great opportunity for our students to use leading-edge sensors to design creative apps that improve our interaction with the physical world.”

“At NTU, we want our students to be able to apply their scientific knowledge and engineering expertise to design and build innovative products for real-world applications,” said Prof. Cheng Tee Hiang, the Acting Chair of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. “Students using ST’s award-winning iNEMO smart multi-sensor technology in their projects will now have the opportunity to pit their skills against other talented teams. Great innovations are usually developed in a competitive environment, so we see this contest as a good platform to raise the bar for our students in a fun but challenging way.”

The iNEMO Design Contest will run in parallel to the final-year project of participating students. ST will sponsor the iNEMO boards, documentation, software drivers, and technical support, as well as cover 3rd-party costs for the projects. The students will submit their projects to the contest for judging in May 2013. The iNEMO Design Contest offers a top prize of SGD10,000 to the winning team, evaluated on functionality, practicality, implementation, creativity, presentation and final demonstration.

ST is a global leader in the semiconductor market serving customers across the spectrum of sense and power technologies and multimedia convergence applications. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.

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