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by Maarten Vraanes Director of Consulting Services, MEMS Journal
MEMS packaging, as the entire MEMS ecosystem, is rapidly evolving. Technologies such as wafer level and 3D integration are becoming increasingly important. In this article, we outline our observations about the current and future trends of MEMS integration and packaging. Major trends focus on developing CMOS-compatible MEMS fabrication processes for monolithic integration, such as low-temperature wafer bonding. Another emerging trend is die stacking in low-cost leadless type semiconductor packaging -- these types of techniques provide smaller footprint packages with lower unit costs for high production volumes. Additionally, 3D integration enables the integration of LCR passives. Here, LCR components are embedded into the package itself to minimize external passives and accommodate smaller footprint applications, wafer bonding and vertical intra-package connectors or interposers. On the flip side, CMOS and 3D integration of MEMS devices pose challenges in modeling, testing, and reliability.
The MEMS industry saw healthy 10 percent growth in 2012, and can expect continued strong expansion for the foreseeable future, projects Yole Developpement. The firm sees continuing 12-13 percent compound annual growth -- doubling the sector’s revenues to $22 billion by 2018. But that stable growth masks plenty of change from sector to sector within the diverse MEMS industry, as the high-volume consumer business drives fast innovation cycles. Meanwhile, the market for ink jet heads is declining, but mobile markets
look likely to starting to adopt new MEMS timing devices, RF devices,
and even environmental sensors. Notably, the diverse higher value, lower
volume, industrial market (which ranges from telecommunications to
aerospace and defense) will also match the consumer market’s ~12
percent growth rates, and medical MEMS markets will grow much faster at
around 22 percent.
MEMS pressure sensors will achieve accelerated growth this year and become the leading type of MEMS device, driven by increasing use in automotive and the fast-growing handset space, according to IHS. Revenue for MEMS pressure sensors this year will reach a projected $1.71 billion, up 14 percent from $1.50 billion in 2012. This year's growth improves on the already solid 11 percent increase of 2012, but even rosier prospects are in store next year when expansion peaks at 16 percent. Steady, uninterrupted growth will continue until at least 2017, by which time the market will be worth $2.49 billion. Used for control and monitoring purposes in a myriad of applications, pressure sensors are set this year to become the biggest-selling MEMS device, displacing the incumbent leaders: accelerometers and gyroscopes.
Micrel, an IC and MEMS foundry services provider based in Silicon Valley, has recently made moves to expand its MEMS services offering. The decision seems to be appropriate and timely, because of the limited number of MEMS production sites in the US. Founded in 1978, Micrel has a long track record of sustained profitability -- the company says that it has been profitable in 33 of its 34 years of its existence. Micrel went public in 1994 and has reportedly generated positive cash flows since that time. We spoke with Guy Gandenberger, Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Foundry Business Unit, about the company's history, recent MEMS related moves, and plans for the future.
Tronics said that this week that its revenues and profits exceeded expectations in 2012 due to strong growth of its high performance inertial sensor business, as well as a significant increase in its contract manufacturing customer base. The MEMS foundry services company, based in France, reported 2012 revenues of $22.1 million and profits of $2.4 million. Tronics also said that it expanded its investments in submicron and glass technologies.
memsstar, a Scotland-based provider of etch and deposition equipment for semiconductor and MEMS applications, announced this week the appointment of Tony McKie as its CEO. The company said that McKie is tasked with capitalising on the company's experience and reputation in the semiconductor and MEMS markets to drive its growth.
As the MEMS market forces continue to apply enormous pressures on device makers to reduce costs, companies are continually striving to make their development and manufacturing cycles more efficient. One approach has been to design around well-defined processes, or at least process modules, to accelerate time to market. We recently spoke with Alissa Fitzgerald of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates and Peter Himes of Silex about their joint efforts in this area through a recently announced partnership. In this detailed interview, Alissa and Peter discuss the emerging trends with fabless MEMS manufacturing, provide an overview of existing commercial MEMS processes, address intellectual property and cost challenges, and explain their approach.
After two straight years of blockbuster expansion, the market for magnetic sensors experienced lower than expected growth in 2012 due mainly to depressed automotive sales and a diminished industrial sector, according to the IHS iSuppli. Revenue for semiconductor based magnetic sensor elements, integrated circuits and switches amounted to $1.57 billion last year. While last year's takings represented a 6.4 percent increase over 2011 revenue of $1.47 billion, growth in 2012 was much lower than the 44 percent surge of 2010 and the 21 percent hike of 2011. Double-digit expansion had initially been forecast for 2012, but a cooling in the magnetic sensors' most important market of automotive resulted in shaving off growth points, resulting in the annual increase topping out in just the single digits.
InvenSense, a leading provider of MEMS motion sensors claimed this week that it won its motion to stay the patent litigation action brought by STMicroelectronics in the US District Court (Northern District of California) due to progress in separate proceedings with the United States Patent Office (USPTO) challenging the validity of all of ST's asserted patents. InvenSense stated that all of ST's claims asserted in this litigation, initiated by ST, are now subject to USPTO reexamination proceedings. Reportedly, USPTO has already determined that "substantial questions of patentability" exist for seven of the nine patents asserted by ST, and USPTO office actions have already been issued for four of the patent reexamination requests. This patent dispute is yet another indication that the market for consumer grade MEMS based motion sensors has become ultra-competitive.
With applications such as pico-projectors, head-up displays (HUDs), and gesture sensing, MEMS based optical engine platforms are quickly emerging to become the next “killer app” in the MEMS and microsystems component market. We spoke with Matan Naftali, the CEO of an Israeli startup company Maradin that is active in the optical MEMS technology sector. In this comprehensive interview, Matan outlines the competitive landscape and supply chain, discusses the ongoing trends with component prices, explains existing technology challenges, and provides an extensive list of applications.
Si-Ware Systems (SWS), a provider of MEMS and IC solutions for industrial and consumer applications, has licensed its MEMS FT-IR spectrometer technology to Hamamatsu Photonics of Japan. Hamamatsu is the world leading supplier of optoelectronics components. The company announced its new FT-IR spectrometer last month. According to SWS, the MEMS based spectrometer is the world's first single-chip spectrometer. All of the optical components of the spectrometer are monolithically integrated on one chip using SWS's proprietary MEMS technology.
A group of European investment funds announced an investment in DelfMEMS, a developer of MEMS based switching solutions for applications in the RF communications field. The funding of $10.5 million, of which $4.5 million from the FSN PME, will enable DelfMEMS to accelerate the commercialization of its products. The company also announced the appointment of Guillaume d'Essautier as CEO.
The MEMS market for pressure sensors in the high-value military and aerospace segments will enjoy brisk double-digit growth this year, with plenty of room left for future expansion in a broad range of lucrative applications. Revenue for pressure sensors in both military and civil aerospace applications will reach $35.7 million by year-end, up 20 percent from $29.7 million last year, according to IHS iSuppli. By 2016, military and aerospace related MEMS takings will reach $45.5 million, equivalent to a healthy five-year compound annual growth rate of 9 percent.
With major advances in MEMS and nanotechnology and their proliferation into medicine, it is important to have a working knowledge of the critical steps in obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for commercialization. An understanding of the core elements and expedited review opportunities for medical devices provides entrepreneurs a key advantage in decision making, development and commercialization for the shortest time to market.
Many MEMS products intended for use with humans are considered medical
devices under the FDA approval process. This includes products for
diagnostics, monitoring, surgical and therapeutic applications. For a
manufacturer to market or commercially distribute a medical device, it
must first comply with the regulatory requirements of the FDA. The
critical steps of this process are outlined in the flow chart below.
Tronics, a MEMS foundry and device maker, introduced this week a new high performance MEMS based angular rate sensor (gyro) for applications such as platform stabilization. The product is based on Tronics' MEMS-on-SOI and high vacuum wafer level packaging technologies. Tronics has been active in the design and manufacture of high performance MEMS gyros for more than 10 years. According to the company, the product aimed at a segment of the gyro market that is currently under-served and typically does not warrant custom development.
