MEMS Journal -- The Largest MEMS Publication in the World

MEMS foundry Micralyne announces plans for growth, leadership changes

Following its acquisition by FTC Technologies, MEMS foundry Micralyne announced this week plans to expand its MEMS solutions and services business in 2016.  Building on its current base of customers in several industries, the company plans to provide solutions based on its experience in MEMS chip design, packaging, and integration.  Micralyne also announced key executive leadership appointments to drive their business expansion and partnerships in 2016 and beyond.  Paul Pickering has been appointed as Micralyne's Chief Revenue Officer with responsibility for marketing, sales and business development on a global basis.  He will work with Mike Ciprick, President and CEO, and the company's Board of Directors to develop the new strategies and implementation programs.

Electroplating tools for MEMS applications: making sense of the current landscape

As the main semiconductor industry marches forward, the push to increase substrate sizes and automate production for high-volume runs continues.  Given these trends, the lower volume MEMS applications that are made on smaller substrates sometimes get left behind.  Electroplating tools exemplify this trend.  Semitool released the first commercial electroplating system for four-inch wafers in the early 1990s and continued to provide tools for small wafers, even as its product line expanded to include 300 mm substrates in the late 2000s.  One of the main reasons for Applied Materials’ (AMAT’s) acquisition of Semitool in 2010 was the Raider family of electroplating tools.  At that time, and probably to this day, Raiders were among the best automated electroplating tools on the leading edge market, and they were primarily geared for 300 mm substrates.