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Cartamundi, imec and Holst Centre (set up by imec and TNO) are proud to announce to have just won the “Best Product” – Award at Printed Electronics Europe for their ultra-thin plastic RFID technology integrated into Cartamundi’s playing cards. The jury has hereby recognized the potential of this technology to become a gamechanger for the gaming industry, as well as for many other printed electronics applications in the Internet-of-Things domain.

With economic and form-factor advantages compared to traditional silicon-based technologies, Holst Centre’s and imec’s ultra-thin plastic RFID solution is essential to improve and broaden the applicability of electronics seamlessly integrated in paper. This enables Cartamundi to develop connected devices with additional value and content for consumers. At the conference, Cartamundi, imec and Holst Centre demonstrate an industry-first prototype of the ultra-thin flexible RFID chip integrated into a playing card. In each card, the RFID chip has a unique code that communicates wirelessly to an RFID reader, giving the cards in the game a unique digital identity.

Chris Van Doorslaer (CEO) is delighted with the award and sounds ambitious:

“Cartamundi’s ambition to embed wireless RFID tags in games and trading cards products is a ‘game changer’ indeed. The new technology will connect traditional game play with electronic devices like smartphones and tablets. As Cartamundi is committed to creating products that connect families and friends of every generation to enhance the valuable quality time they share during the day, this technology is a real enabler.”

“This is a thrilling development to demonstrate our TOLAE electronic technology integrated in the product of a partner company. TOLAE stands for Thin, Oxide and Large-Area Electronics”, stated Paul Heremans, department director of thin-film electronics at imec and technology director at the Holst Centre. “Our prototype thin-film RFID is thinner than paper—so thin that it can be invisibly embedded in paper products, such as playing cards. This key enabling technology will bring the cards and traditional games of our customer in direct connection with the Cloud. This achievement also opens up new applications in the IoT domain that we are exploring, to bring more data and possibilities to applications such as smart packaging, security paper, and maybe even banknotes.”

Steven Nietvelt Chief Technology & Innovation Officer: “This is Cartamundi at it’s very best: bringing new solutions to the ever creative game developing community. We are convinced the gaming community will be inspired by this technology. It can possibly enhance existing games but also allows for brand new concepts to arise.”

Imec and Cartamundi engineers will now explore up-scaling of the technology using a foundry production model.

This award would not have been possible without the support and advise of VLAIO. VLAIO played a substantial role by bringing all partners of the project together.

icards

SEMI today announced the second annual edition of the SEMI European MEMS Summit, dedicated to MEMS and sensors, to be held on September 15-16. After a successful inaugural event in Milan that attracted 265 attendees, this year’s SEMI European MEMS Summit will convene in Stuttgart, one of the world’s major MEMS and Sensor hubs.

MEMS volumes are expected to nearly double, compared to today’s levels, and reach 30 billion units by 2020, based on a Yole Developpement forecast.  While the growth is impressive, challenges exist, and through the SEMI European MEMS Summit’s unique combination of plenary executive talks, exhibition and networking opportunities, major issues will be addressed for discussion and collaboration:

  • Making sensors smaller, smarter, and cheaper
  • Emerging technologies and readiness, maturity
  • Price and margin pressures and business models
  • Markets dynamics and new opportunities

In addition, leading companies will share key messages on their product and business strategic development.  Sessions will focus on automotive, consumer electronics and wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), and more.

“Stuttgart is the ideal location for the 2016 SEMI European MEMS Summit, and we look forward to exchanging views on the latest advances in the MEMS industry,” said Klaus Meder, president of Automotive Electronics at Robert Bosch GmbH.

The conference program is developed by a steering committee composed of industry and thought leaders including ASE, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA-Leti, EV Group, Fraunhofer ENAS, Fraunhofer IZM, IHS, NXP, Okmetic, Sencio, SPTS, STMicroelectronics, SUSS MicroTec, X-Fab, and Yole Developpement.  The program will feature executive speakers from organizations shaping the industry and will be announced in late spring.

Registration for the conference, exhibition and sponsorship packages are open for bookings with ‘early bird’ prices valid until May 31.  Visit www.semi.org/europeanMEMSSummit for details and more information.

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation, a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products, today announced that it is now shipping its e-Compass sensor (MXG2320) in China to a major smartphone manufacturer that is targeting mobile markets in China and India.

MagnaChip’s MXG2320 e-Compass product is a Hall effect magnetic direction sensor. The MXG2320 supports high resolution (0.6uT/bit) at low voltage (1.8V/3.3V) and is well-suited for mobile applications because of its small die size (1.2mmX1.2mm). The e-Compass design win in China is recognition of MagnaChip’s mixed-signal design and manufacturing expertise and reflects the potential for future design-win opportunities for its entire line of sensor products.

In addition to the MXG2320, MagnaChip is in the final development stages of a buffer-embedded, e-Compass sensor with the smallest footprint (1.2mmX0.8mm) currently available in the market. This product is now undergoing beta testing and is being evaluated for use by a major smartphone manufacturer.

The e-Compass has become an essential part of mobile device applications and has now found its way into new applications such as virtual reality, indoor navigation and drone control.  An e-Compass sensor interprets compass direction through the detection of the earth’s magnetic polar fields.

“MagnaChip has been developing e-Compass and other sensor products for mobile applications as part of its strategy to target emerging growth markets,” said YJ Kim, CEO of MagnaChip Semiconductor. “I am very pleased to say that this e-Compass design win is very significant because it marks the beginning of our expansion into the China mobile market with our line of sensor products.”

Headquartered in South Korea, MagnaChip is a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high-volume consumer applications.

By Rania Georgoutsakou, director of Public Policy for Europe, SEMI

In a global industry, monitoring regulatory developments across different regions can be a challenge. Add to that the additional complexity of communicating with a (global) supply chain, then consider that each company has to individually reach out to its suppliers and customers. This results in numerous communications on the same issue up and down the supply chain, and the benefits of industry collaboration within associations such as SEMI become clear.

To help companies keep up with the latest developments in the EU, here’s a list of recent and upcoming regulatory initiatives and how SEMI member companies are collectively addressing these:

  • SEMI FAQ – EU F-Gas regulation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment
  • Review of EU Machinery Directive now underway
  • EU PFOA restriction under discussion
  • 2016 EU Blue Guide is available

A SEMI webcast on EU regulatory developments (March 2016) provided a more detailed overview of these and other developments and how companies should prepare – the webcast is available to view for SEMI member companies only, please click here and select the “EU Regulation Webcast”.

Manufacturing equipment containing pre-charged chillers – new SEMI FAQ provides guidance on how to comply with EU F-Gas law

The EU F-Gas regulation that entered into force in January 2014 creates new restrictions on placing on the EU market pre-charged chillers containing certain fluorinated gases (F-gases).

A new SEMI FAQ on the EU F-Gas regulation provides guidance on what this law is about, how it impacts semiconductor manufacturing equipment and what steps companies importing affected equipment should be taking to ensure compliance.

If your company is importing semiconductor manufacturing equipment containing pre-charged chillers into the EU, then you need to make sure you can account for the f-gases in the chiller under the new F-Gas quota system that the law has established, by obtaining an ‘authorisation’ from a ‘quota holder’ and registering in the ‘EU HFC Register’.

For more details and compliance timelines, check out the SEMI FAQ.

EU Machinery Directive – review now underway – have your say!

The EU Machinery Directive sets out the basic requirements machines must satisfy in order to be placed on the EU market and is a major piece of EU law for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

The review is part of the regular EU regulatory review process to ensure legislation is ‘fit for purpose’ and does not automatically imply that the Machinery Directive will be revised. It is being run by an external consultant and a final report is expected in April 2017.

The focus of the review will be on 9 product categories, including machines for metal working, engines and turbines, robotics and automation and will also explore whether there are discrepancies in the interpretation of the directive between various member states and to what extent it is aligned to other pieces of legislation.

SEMI is putting together a working group to contribute to review of the EU Machinery Directive. If you are a member company and want to get involved, please contact [email protected]

PFOA restriction under discussion – SEMI requests derogations for the industry

The EU is currently drafting a law to restrict the manufacture, use and placing on the market of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related substances under EU REACH. The restriction would apply both to substances and mixtures and to articles containing these substances.

SEMI has been calling for a derogation for substances and mixtures used in photolithography processes and for articles contained in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

SEMI has collected and submitted evidence to substantiate members’ recommendations for:

  • a derogation period of at least 10 years for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, to allow equipment manufacturers to communicate with their the supply chain, identify components potentially containing restricted substances, source substitute parts that are tested and validated and requalify the equipment.
  • non-time-limited derogation for spare parts for legacy semiconductor manufacturing equipment, i.e. equipment that was already on the EU market before the restriction entered into force and before the derogation for semiconductor manufacturing equipment expires.
  • non-time-limited derogation for second-hand semiconductor manufacturing equipment, to ensure that companies can still import used equipment from outside the EU or from another EU member state.

SEMI has also voiced its concerns around the proposed concentration limits and the non-availability today of standardized practicable analytical methods that can be applied to a variety of materials to test whether an article would comply with the restriction.

The EU proposed restriction will be published in the next month and the final decision on the restriction is expected by the end of 2016.

Product regulatory compliance in the EU – 2016 Blue Guide now published

The Blue Guide provides guidance on how to implement EU product rules, including for example the EU Machinery and EMC Directives. A 2016 revised version is now available to download – click here.

The Blue Guide addresses:

  • what constitutes placing a product on the EU market
  • obligations of the various actors in the supply chain (manufacturer, importer, authorized representative etc.)
  • product requirements
  • conformity assessment
  • accreditation
  • market surveillance carried out in the EU

For an overview of SEMI’s advocacy work in Europe, please click here.

To find out more and get involved, please contact [email protected]

Join us for the 10th SEMI Brussels Forum – the industry’s major annual event bringing together company executives and decision-makers to discuss opportunities for the micro/nano-electronics industry in Europe: www.semi.org/BrusselsForum

ClassOne Technology, manufacturer of cost-efficient Solstice electroplating systems, has announced the completion of a major new round of funding from Salem Investment Partners of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The announcement was made jointly by Byron Exarcos, CEO of ClassOne and Meredith Jolly, Vice President at Salem Investment Partners.

“It’s evident that 2016 will be another significant growth year for ClassOne Technology,” said Mr. Exarcos. “With this new funding we will fill order backlogs and address a forecast that is strong and rapidly increasing. This surge in business is coming from the many emerging markets that build products on 200mm and smaller substrates. These users are looking for advanced plating performance at an affordable price — and that’s precisely what Solstice systems are designed for. As a result, more and more of these companies are ordering our tools. And that now includes many of the top-tier manufacturers from around the world.”

“We’re delighted to see the exceptional and sustained growth that ClassOne Technology is achieving across the U.S., Europe and Asia,” said Ms. Jolly. “It’s even more remarkable given that the company just introduced the Solstice system two years ago. It’s great to be on a winning team and to be able to contribute to their success.”

ClassOne’s Solstice electroplating line serves many cost-sensitive emerging markets such as MEMS, Sensors, LEDs, Opto-electronics, RF and more. Designed specifically for ≤200mm wafer processing, Solstice tools are available in three different models and can electroplate a range of metals and alloys, either on transparent or opaque substrates. The company also just announced their Plating-Plus capability which allows Solstice to perform additional processing — such as Metal Lift-Off, Resist Strip and UBM Etch — along with plating, all on a single tool.

In addition to plating equipment, ClassOne also provides spin rinse dryers, spray solvent tools, advanced software and more. ClassOne equipment is strategically priced at less than half of what similar tools from the larger manufacturers would cost — which is why it has been described as “Advanced Wet Processing Tools for the Rest of Us.”

By James Hayward, Technology Analyst, IDTechEx

Last week, IDTechEx gave the opening presentation at the 2016 Korea Summit for Smart Wearable Devices, excellently hosted by KDIA and KSA in Seoul, Korea. Wearable sensors once again dominated discussion throughout the day, with latest examples of options in MEMS, textiles and more presented at length in the conference. Additional discussions throughout the day extended to topics like glucose sensing (including enzyme-free examples), sensor fusion and beyond.

Sensor development is driving the next generation of wearable devices, and this development is now going further than simply attaching sensors to devices that can be stuck on the body. Professor Mark Allen of the University of Pennsylvania gave a fascinating presentation about development of advanced MEMS for wearable devices. MEMS remains the dominant force in wearable sensing, but examples are now becoming broader than the increasingly commoditized, off-the-shelf and near ubiquitous IMU. IDTechExResearch’s bestselling report on the topic, “Wearable Sensors 2016-2026: Market Forecasts, Technologies, Players” finds that IMUs continue to dominate the wearable sensing space, counting for almost half of the total wearable sensor shipments in 2016.

The majority of wearable sensors today are found placed on the body within devices. One step further involves inserting sensors more permanently, whether via something like a skin patch that can be worn for weeks or months at a time, or to use Professor Allen’s example from work at Georgia Tech, magnetometers to detect motion of a magnetic stud inserted as a tongue piercing. Here, the use case is to enable patients suffering significant paralysis to other areas of the body to control an electric wheelchair using the tongue. The next step is to ingest sensors – Proteus Digital Health provide perhaps the most popularized example here, but devices like pill cameras are also regularly used in the diagnostic and clinical trial settings. The next steps involve the full implantation of a sensor, either permanently or through a planned lifetime followed by degradation.

Professor Allen spoke of some of their recently FDA approved work towards implantable sensors for intra cardiac pressure sensing. By fabricating a MEMS devices using ceramics, they created a biologically stable sensor that can be inserted inside the heart in high-risk patients to enable predictive diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. With the group prolifically producing new work, one area is looking at using a core-shell structure to make biodegradable sensors that can maintain structure and communication for a useful lifetime before dissolving. Sensor development is constantly improving the value proposition in many wearable and implantable products, producing state-of-the-art products for the medical space in particular.

IDTechEx Research covers all of the main types of wearable sensors found in products today, as well as sensors of the future in their report “Wearable Sensors 2016-2026: Market Forecasts, Technologies, Players“. The report groups sensors in prominent categories. For each sensor, the technologies and major players are described, backed up by detailed interviews and company profiles of key bodies in each sector. The report also views the big picture, discussing the implications of sensor fusion and the relative merits of each sensor type for various applications. This extensive primary research is used to produce detailed market forecasts for each sensor type over the next decade. Market data is provided for the growth of each sensor type, and is used to illustrate key trends that are observable in various application sectors.

sensors

According to their latest report, Technavio analysts expect the global piezoelectric smart materials market for 2016-2020 to exceed USD 42 billion by 2020 growing at a CAGR of almost 13 percent.

According to Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan, lead research analyst at Technavio for metals and minerals, “The global piezoelectric smart materials market is expected to be vibrant during the forecast period due to increasing investment in R&D for product innovation and the rising demand from the automotive industry. In addition, high demand from APAC is expected to further drive market growth.”

Technavio’s lead chemicals and materials market research analysts have identified the following three factors that will drive the global piezoelectric smart materials market:

-Increase in demand from military and aerospace sector
-Growing demand from construction industry
-Rise in R&D efforts

Increase in demand from military and aerospace sector

The spacecraft industry has provided a tremendous boost to the piezoelectric smart materials market globally. Materials with enhanced functional properties such as shape memory, electrochromism, and piezoelectricity, are gaining demand in the aerospace industries. These materials help in controlling the airflow across the wings of an aircraft, maintaining it in takeoff, flying, and landing it more efficiently with less noise.

Some applications for aircraft include wing morphing and flapping wing technologies. These materials are used to solve some common problems with the aircraft such as engine vibration, high cabin noise levels, ice formation on wings, flow separation due to turbulence, and control surfaces in cold climatic conditions.

In the military, piezoelectric materials are used in applications such as smart sensors, smart nanorobotics, smart combat suits, and smart skins. The majority of the demand from aerospace industry is expected to come from the US followed by Europe.

Growing demand from construction industry

The application of piezoelectric smart materials in the construction industry falls into three categories: structural health monitoring, vibration control, and environmental control. Structural health monitoring is where piezoelectric smart materials find their most widespread applications. The primary focus of structural health monitoring lies in the monitoring of loads and detection of damage in the structures. In addition, the trend toward longer and more slender cables has given rise to the demand for piezoelectric smart materials for use in structural monitoring and vibration control.

North America has the highest level of activity involving structural health monitoring. In the US, optical fiber grating systems are used to monitor traffic and composite repair monitoring. Additionally, embedded and surface-mounted MEMS sensors are used to monitor concrete and metal structures. “The growing construction sector will lead to a greater demand for piezoelectric smart materials,” says Chandrakumar.

Rise in R&D efforts

Transportation, healthcare, and smart packaging are among the sectors that have been receiving tremendous attention with respect to R&D. In the transportation sector, the military and aerospace sector, followed by the automotive and marine sectors account for the major R&D.

In the US, a considerable amount of funding has been offered by organizations such as the Naval Research Laboratory, Army Research Laboratories, Air Force Research Laboratories, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A lot of this funding has been offered to the universities that have given rise to a lot of startup organizations in the field of smart materials.

In Europe, many similar initiatives involving Central European Chapter funded plans. In addition, defense programs, financed by the Western European Union, and a few of the large aerospace companies, are being undertaken by many institutions.

Technavio is a technology research and advisory company.

Leti, an Institute of CEA Tech, and ARaymondlife, a manufacturer of customized devices and consumables for the IVD industry today announced a joint initiative to accelerate the development and manufacturing of innovative medical devices, especially in the field of microfluidic cartridge analysis.

The initiative, based on experiences from ongoing projects, will focus on cartridges that enclose portable bio-med systems that enable sample analysis where the patient is dramatically reducing both the time to see the results and the cost of an analysis.

More broadly, Leti and ARaymondlife will collaborate on future projects that capitalize on their complementary strengths. Leti has joined the network of selected partners initiated by ARaymondlife according to their know-how and capabilities to guide its product-development projects, and ARaymondlife is a preferred partner for the development platform of medical devices that Leti has recently established.

“This partnership combines our competencies in ways that will significantly speed the development and time-to-market of analytical tools and systems for Leti’s partners and ARaymondlife customers,” said Leti CEO Marie Semeria. “It also capitalizes on the technological diversity of the local ecosystem and underscores the Grenoble region’s excellence in medical technology.”

By combining their complementary strengths, the partners expect to support the development of turnkey solutions for companies that want to introduce new products in the medical technology industry, but require additional analytical resources, technical competencies or manufacturing tools.

“The strict standards and high costs for developing medical devices require that prototypes used for clinical testing not only meet quality regulations, but that also are almost identical to the final product,” said Philippe Daurenjou, ARaymondlife Commercial Director. “This partnership with Leti uses our complementary strengths to meet those requirements effectively and cost efficiently, and make our customers more competitive.”

The two partners anticipate working together on projects that will combine Leti’s expertise in developing analytical protocols with Araymondlife’s manufacturing capacity. On those projects, ARaymondlife would be involved very early in the development cycle to check the viability of the proposed solution in the manufacturing processes. The team will make modifications to improve the reliability of the product and reduce production costs, as needed.

In addition to its med-tech uses, Leti’s technology also is well-suited for rapid and cost-effective onsite analysis in environmental, agricultural and veterinary applications.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) has surpassed two billion unit sales of its robust and versatile STM8 microcontrollers, less than two years after reaching one billion unit sales, noting particularly strong success in China.

Aided by these accelerating STM8 sales, ST’s share of the general-purpose microcontroller market has grown to 12.7% in 2015 from 8.2% in 2013, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).

“The STM8 has become one of the world’s most popular microcontrollers, and is a sturdy pillar of our strategy,” said Daniel Colonna, Microcontrollers Marketing Director, STMicroelectronics. “As with all of our MCUs, we are committed to supporting STM8 for the long term, and we’ll continue to strengthen our market position.”

The STM8 provides an economical and efficient electronic brain for smart devices in daily use throughout the world, such as white goods, consumer products, automotive control units (ECUs), and industrial controls. It combines class-leading computing power and competitive pricing with support for memory-efficient coding, low power consumption, high feature integration, versatile configurations, and an outstanding development ecosystem that facilitates design, debug, and prototyping. In addition, built-in memory cycling and error checking, as well as high reliability for automotive applications, have made STM8 a benchmark for robust embedded performance.

The large number of devices shipped reflects the microcontroller’s appeal to OEMs serving high-volume markets, and the work of ST’s distributors worldwide who have helped design STM8 devices into a wide variety of projects. Sales performance has been particularly impressive in China through ST’s top microcontroller distributors, Willas-Array, Wintech and Yosun, targeting products for the country’s domestic market as well as for export.

Key technical features of STM8 microcontrollers:

— Proprietary CPU core with best-in-class performance
— High code efficiency enabling more sophisticated applications in smaller
memory footprint
— 1.65V to 5.5V power-supply range covers many application types
— 2KB to 128KB on-chip Flash; up to 2KB data EEPROM
— Multiple package types from 20-pin to 80-pin, including LQFP, WLCSP,
QFN20-48, SO-20, TSSOP-20
— High integration for cost-effective system design:

— ADC, DAC, multiple channels up to 12-bit
— Rich serial interfaces
— Multiple timers
— Display controllers up to 8 x 40 LCD
— Flexible, power-saving clock system
— Up to 68 high-current I/Os

Samsung Electronics Co. and Daintree Networks said they are collaborating on joint solutions involving Samsung’s smart lighting module (SLM).

According to a release, Samsung’s SLM, which will be integrated with LED luminaires from lighting OEMs, enables greater intelligence through device-level processing, as well as enhanced connectivity through multiple embedded communications technologies, including the open standard ZigBee protocol. Combining Samsung’s SLM technology with the Daintree Networks ControlScope networked wireless control solution makes new Internet of Things (IoT) applications possible for smart buildings.

Dr. Jacob Tarn, Executive Vice President, LED Business Team, Samsung Electronics, said, “Samsung’s SLM technology will make all devices connected to it, from LED luminaires to sensors to future control products, even smarter. Because SLM is the key for a wide variety of smart lighting applications, our customers can achieve fast time-to-market and their luminaires can be optimized for many different smart lighting environments. By partnering with Daintree Networks, with their ControlScope solution, we will support traditional lighting control as well as enable new sensor-driven applications. For example, by connecting third-party occupancy sensors to our SLM technology, ControlScope customers will be able to more accurately monitor occupant patterns that can improve business operations and enhance security in retail environments.”

“Our partnership with Samsung reinforces our commitment to provide open wireless networking solutions to enable the Enterprise Internet of ThingsTM (E-IoTTM),” said Derek Proudian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Daintree Networks. “The unique architecture found in Samsung’s SLM is a great match for the advanced technology in ControlScope and further demonstrates connected LED lighting as the natural infrastructure for smart buildings across retail, office and industrial environments. With an expanding array of open standard control devices and open software innovation, Daintree is accelerating the development of high-value business outcomes for our enterprise customers. We are excited to collaborate with Samsung to advance our industry.”

ControlScope is an open standards-based mesh networking control solution and enterprise IoT platform. Daintree Networks provides the in-building wireless network communications and cloud-based intelligent control software, and customers are free to choose from a variety of third-party control devices including sensors, fixtures, programmable thermostats.