MEMS Journal -- The Largest MEMS Publication in the World

Mosaic Microsystems secures $2 million seed round from BlueSky Capital and Corning

Mosaic Microsystems is focused on providing thin glass substrates and through glass vias (TGVs) for RF communications devices, particularly for 5G, as well as MEMS and sensors for the internet of things (IoT) and has reported a significant investment into the business.  The company recently raised $2 million in a seed round led by BlueSky Capital, with participation from Corning. Jeremy Wooldridge, General Manager of Samtec Microelectronics, will join Mosaic’s Board of Directors. In 2019, Mosaic secured an exclusive license from Corning for thin glass handling solutions, as well as an NSF SBIR contract to establish manufacturable implementation of thin glass for electronics packaging. Mosaic leadership team includes technology experts from Kodak, Corning, and ON Semiconductor.

MEMS technology innovator NextInput enabling superior HMI experiences

MEMS and sensors are the key enablers for the continuously evolving human machine interface (HMI) technologies. NextInput, a leader in this technology segment, has been successfully deploying turnkey HMI solutions, including its MEMS force-sensing technology, for customers in the automotive, consumer, mobile, wearable, and industrial markets. We recently spoke with NextInput’s CEO and Founder Ali Foughi about emerging HMI trends, competitive landscape, commercial traction to date, and his vision for the company.

MEMS timing device maker SiTime files to go public to raise $100 million

SiTime, a market leader in MEMS timing devices, announced last week that it has publicly filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. SiTime had revenues of $101 million in 2017 and $85 million in 2018. For the nine months ended on September 30, 2019, the company reported revenues of $56 million, compared to $62 million for the same period in 2018. Barclays and Stifel are acting as book-running managers for the proposed offering. Needham & Company, Raymond James, and Roth Capital Partners are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. SiTime has applied to list its common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SITM".

Thorlabs acquires chemical sensors maker Coda Devices

Thorlabs announced earlier this month that it completed the acquisition of Coda Devices, a manufacturer of Raman-based solutions for analyzing the chemical composition of substances within a laboratory environment or in the field. Based in Menlo Park, California with an R&D center and production in Moscow, Russia, the Coda team will be integrated into Thorlabs' Spectroscopy Technology Group in Munich, Germany. Coda's Raman spectrometers employ patented coded-aperture technology, which reportedly samples over 1,000 optical channels simultaneously, to achieve more than 30 times the light throughput of analogous diffraction slit spectrometers, thereby overcoming the light collection and overall sensitivity limitations of a small entrance aperture.

MEMS foundry Micralyne increases production capability with new SPTS tool

Micralyne announced this week the purchase of a cluster system from SPTS Technologies, a KLA company. Micralyne will use the new Versalis fxP tool equipped with a Rapier™ plasma etch module to increase production capacity in order to meet growing customer demand for its production of MEMS devices for biomedical, optical, and industrial applications. Micralyne is a leading provider of MEMS sensors and other microstructures that differentiate exciting applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, implantable medical devices, and optical communications. The addition of SPTS' system will allow Micralyne to offer its MEMS customers a broader range of process technologies and production capabilities with improved throughput and yield.

Silicon Sensing expands MEMS foundry, aims to deliver five-fold increase in output

Silicon Sensing Systems announced that it will expand its MEMS foundry in Japan, moving into a new purpose-built facility, reportedly allowing the company to meet significantly increased demand for its MEMS inertial sensors and sputtered thin film PZT MEMS device wafers. The new facility will increase floorspace to 3,000 square meters, which will immediately more than double current wafer throughput and deliver scope for a five-fold increase in output over the next five years, in line with the company's current market growth predictions. To keep up with the volume and price pressures in the thin film PZT MEMS sector, Silicon Sensing said it is already expanding its 8-inch wafer line production. This expansion forms part of a major two-year investment program which will upgrade tooling, capabilities, and capacity, and comes as Silicon Sensing celebrates 20 years in the MEMS business during which time the company has delivered over 30 million devices worldwide.

MEMS foundry Micralyne appoints new President and CEO

The company has named John Harley, PhD, as President and CEO. Dr. Harley joined Micralyne in 2016 as Vice President of Technical Marketing and Business Development. His leadership and expertise in MEMS product development, technology transfer, business development, and strategic marketing have enabled Micralyne to excel in the MEMS market. Additionally, his technical insight has enabled the company's customers to apply the most advanced manufacturing capabilities in the biomedical, optical, and industrial markets. In his new role as President and CEO, Dr. Harley will bring his extensive MEMS technical and market experience to propel Micralyne to the next level.

Self-assembled monolayers: adapting the functionality of MEMS devices in future technologies

by Tony McKie
CEO, memsstar

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are a material that has come to the fore in a number of applications, such as biological and consumer electronics, as they have a wide usage scope. This article reviews SAM materials, their deposition methods, and the potential applications of these films.  At its core, a self-assembled monolayer is a molecule of two halves: a head group and a tail group. The head group is typically the functional side of the molecule, whose function is dictated by the head group itself. In some cases, this could be a molecule that allows for the binding of biological material in a lab-on-chip type of application. Another use could be to modify the surface energy that is present on the device surface itself in such a way as to reject the buildup of moisture on the sample surface, thus making the surface hydrophobic.

MEMS maker Micro-Inertial announces high performance IMU and motion sensing systems

Micro-Inertial has announced the development of IMU and motion sensing systems that the company says deliver new levels of performance and reliability with broad temperature stability, high vibration immunity, scale factor, and bias drift. According to Micro-Inertial, the technology offers significantly improved cost, reliability, power, and operating performance characteristics over existing MEMS based IMU systems, particularly in applications where temperature and vibration stability, small form-factor, and light weight are important.

MEMS wafer maker Plan Optik launches new brand for stock products

In order to serve the high demand of wafers with fixed specifications more quickly, MEMS and semiconductor wafer maker Plan Optik has founded a new brand called Wafer Universe (https://waferuniverse.com), to provide off the shelf products. In addition to Plan Optik's main business of customized wafers, Wafer Universe is going to handle the range of stock products. By separating those two business areas and optimizing processes, Plan Optik says that Wafer Universe will be able to offer the shortest quotation and delivery time. There is a large variety of high-quality wafers made of different materials and in different sizes available from stock.