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MEMSCAP launches restructuring of US operations, explores fab-lite plan

MEMSCAP (http://www.memscap.com; NYSE Euronext: MEMS), a leading provider of innovative MEMS based solutions, has retained Microtech Ventures as its M&A advisor to assist with finding an acquirer for MEMSCAP’s MEMS fabrication facility in North Carolina. This potential transaction is part of MEMSCAP’s previously announced fab-lite plan, and the company’s recent announcement that it has initiated the restructuring phase of its US operations. MEMSCAP’s products and solutions include components, component designs (IP), manufacturing, and related services. As part of the progress of MEMSCAP’s fab-lite plan, the company is considering several options, including the possibility of the sale of its US industrial operations.

MEMS and IC foundry SilTerra to invest $150 million to increase fabrication capacity

SilTerra, Malaysia's largest semiconductor wafer foundry, is investing $150 million in an expansion plan that will increase its annual capacity by 20%. The investment, sourced from both capital injections by shareholders and internally generated funds, will increase SilTerra's annual capacity from 8.3 million to 10 million mask layers. The additional capacity is expected to be ready for production by early 2023. According to Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of DNeX, and also Executive Chairman of SilTerra, the investment is the shareholders' on-going commitment to equip the company with best-in-class manufacturing capabilities and expand the production capacity to achieve a better economy of scale, with lower manufacturing costs.

MEMS foundry Silex Microsystems acquires 200mm wafer fab from Elmos Semiconductor

The companies this week signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to transfer the Elmos wafer fabrication at the Dortmund location to Silex. Elmos will sell its wafer fabrication activities in Dortmund for a net purchase price of 85 million Euro. The purchase incorporates a supply agreement under which Silex will continue the current wafer manufacturing, operating as an independent foundry supplying CMOS wafers to Elmos. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the second half of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Glass fabrication solutions for MEMS and RF applications

Mosaic Microsystems, located in Rochester, New York, was founded in 2016 to provide a manufacturing solution for inserting glass as a substrate into advanced packaging for next generation products. The core technology is a temporary bond technique that was developed and licensed from Corning, and enables handling and processing of thin glass substrates within a high-volume production environment. The company believes this is a key enabler for insertion of thin glass because their solution employs the use of existing semiconductor processing equipment.

Mosaic’s initial products are thin glass wafers temporarily bonded to a silicon or other type of wafers with or without through glass vias and with or without metallization. The company has recently been awarded multiple SBIR and STTR grants. This includes efforts to collaboratively develop ultra-low loss solutions for next-generation radar arrays with the University of Florida, establish low loss mobile electronically steerable antenna (ESA), heterogeneous integration, and more recently to develop low loss integrated passive devices (IPDs) with commercial partners. The awards are sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) under the AFWERX Agility Prime Open Topic as well as the National Science Foundation. We recently spoke with Christine Whitman, Mosaic’s Chairman and CEO about the company’s history, technology origins, recent and planned milestones, vision, emerging applications, and marketplace dynamics. Mosaic raised $2 million from Corning and BlueSky Capital in May 2020.

Micro 3D printing for emerging MEMS and microfluidics applications

Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) is a leader in microscale 3D printing systems aimed towards short-run industrial production of micro-sized devices. The newest printer in BMF’s line enables larger build volumes, faster printing speeds, and supports the use of industrial-grade materials. BMF’s 3D printers provide MEMS designers with an alternative to micromachining processes that require multiple steps and can only create low-aspect ratio devices. Unlike surface micro machining, BMF’s tools can create micro-devices with high aspect ratios. Plus, with its faster build times, BMF’s printers also offer advantages over bulk micro machining, which is slow to etch and requires bonding to form complex structures. We recently spoke with BMF’s CEO John Kawola about the company’s history, recent accomplishments, current traction in the marketplace, and plans for the future.

MEMS manufacturing: Mosaic Microsystems, Axus Technology collaborating on thin glass wafer processing solutions

Axus Technology, a provider of CMP, wafer thinning, and wafer surface processing solutions for semiconductor applications, is working with Mosaic Microsystems to build the supply chain for thin glass and through-glass via (TGV) processing and heterogeneous microelectronic packaging. Overcoming the challenges of handling, thinning, and cleaning <200 um thick wafers cost effectively prior to metallization is a key element in providing a robust, scalable process. Mosaic’s thin glass solutions provide key performance characteristics such as low loss, CTE match, environmental stability, and cost-effectiveness particularly desirable for 5G applications, as well as for MEMS and sensors for the internet of things (IoT). The company’s proprietary temporary bond technology supports thin glass substrates during downstream processing. This thin glass handling technology allows the supply chain to leverage the existing infrastructure for next generation microelectronics and photonics applications.

Microtech Ventures advises Inspectrology in acquisition by Onto Innovation

Inspectrology, LLC, a leading supplier of overlay metrology for controlling lithography and etch processes in the compound semiconductor and MEMS market, was acquired by Onto Innovation Inc. on December 31, 2020. The transaction is expected to provide revenue synergies by leveraging Onto Innovation’s broader access to global markets, especially in Asia. The Inspectrology team will be able to leverage Onto Innovation’s R&D resources and larger customer support organization to better serve its customers.

MEMS foundry SilTerra deploys Evatec’s thin film deposition tool for manufacturing piezo-MEMS devices

SilTerra, a Malaysia-based MEMS and CMOS foundry, recently announced that they added Evatec’s CLUSTERLINE 200 II tool to its arsenal of MEMS specialty tools for the development and production of high-performance piezoelectric MEMS devices. SilTerra said its partnership with Evatec dates back to 2017, and it has enabled SilTerra to successfully demonstrate the performance of monolithically integrated devices for its MEMS-on-CMOS technology platform. Evatec’s tool has reportedly been operational in SilTerra’s fab since May 2020, and is currently deployed for the deposition of piezoelectric thin film for MEMS devices. These devices include SilTerra’s piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs), surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators, and piezoelectric acoustic sensors.

MEMS foundry X-FAB invests $25 million to expand silicon-based microfluidics offering

X-FAB Silicon Foundries announced this week that it has taken steps to simplify the integration of microfluidic elements with CMOS and SOI die. As part of the company's MEMS-oriented technology offering, X-FAB is now able to provide a larger variety of process capabilities for silicon based microfluidic systems. X-FAB has been focused on a more standardized foundry approach, to remove barriers to market entry and shorten development cycles. X-FAB has made $25 million worth of investment in the area of microfluidics in the past 5 years, while taking on numerous projects for medical and industrial clients for applications such as lab-on-a-chip, DNA sequencing and synthesis, and cancer diagnostics. Through these projects, X-FAB has expanded its expertise in areas like noble metal processing, high aspect-ratio deep reactive ion-etching (DRIE), and the deposition of both organic and inorganic materials. X-FAB says it also has become adept at tailoring the interfaces needed to connect CMOS die and the accompanying microfluidics elements, so the exact application requirements can be met.

SilTerra offers monolithic PMUT process option on CMOS for emerging ultrasonic sensing applications

SilTerra, a Malaysian-based global semiconductor and MEMS foundry, announced this week the availability of the piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) process option on CMOS platform. Customers can now design their transducers for ultrasonic sensing applications using the monolithic PMUT process design guidelines from SilTerra.  As a part of SilTerra’s initiative towards the mass production of the MEMS-based PMUT devices, SilTerra developed and qualified the PMUT cells in a modular concept similar to other CMOS process options such as SRAM, MIM, and HRPoly.  MEMS designers and ASIC designers thus have the flexibility to use these CMOS and MEMS process design guidelines to develop their prototypes and accelerate time to volume production.