Trends and Opportunities in MEMS: Putting the

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Trends and Opportunities in MEMS Putting the
S in MEMSDr. Mary Ann MaherSoftMEMS LLC

• ITAC Forum
• Entrepreneurial Opportunities Enabled Through
  Microsystems
• Oct. 7th 2010

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Outline

• Market Numbers for MEMS
• Commercial Trends
• Technology Trends
• Summary and Conclusions

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The MEMS forecast from Yole
Diverse and growth in areas where Canadians have
competence- wireless, medical, etc
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The MEMS Supply Chain Size 2008-2020
Still 10x to 100x smaller than IC market but
growing and young!
Source Yole
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MEMS Applications Maturity
Source Yole
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Movea-Motion Sensing Applications

• Trend 1 Companies combining off the shelf
  sensors, electronics with their own signal
  processing platforms and application expertise
• Trend 2 Multi-sensor fusion enables new products
• Movea combines gyros, accels, magnetic devices to
  create motion sensing technologies
• Multiple sensors needed for the application
• Movea sells Motion Processing Software, Chipsets
  and IP

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Motion Processing API for Sensors

• Trend 3 Software APIs being offered for customer
  application development
• Movea offers an API for sensor applications
  involving motion
• Enables applications such as pointing, analyzing
  running stride and calculation of swimming laps
• Must have some MEMS knowledge- cannot treat MEMS
  as a black box
• Must retest the MEMS sensors

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New Products Invensense

• Trend 4 MEMS chip makers are also offering more
  value add to move up the food chain
• Example Invensense
• 3-axis Gyro with Digital Motion Processor
• Plug and play for integration with other sensors
• Also creating their own APIs
• Overlap in product offering with Applications
  companies

Source Yole/SEMI MEMS Market Report, 2009
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ST- iNEMO

• Trend 5 IDMs are selling multi-sensor solutions
  and platforms
• ST integrates temperature, pressure, and inertial
  sensors
• ST being vertically integrated has an advantage
  with fabs and strong circuit design expertise
• Other IDMS also fit this pattern- Freescale,
  Bosch, Analog devices

42 mm
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Sensing Systems

• Trend 6 Systems are focusing on turning signals
  into information
• Example HP working on oil field sensor networks
  replacing 1000 wired sensors with 1M wireless
  ones
• Where will the computing get done? On my phone
  or in the cloud?
• Volume of information generated by sensor systems
  is huge
• Trend 7 Combining wireless communication and
  sensors is becoming standard The internet of
  Things

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Sensing System Creation

• Trend 8 New applications are driving new MEMS
  technologies
• Not good enough to just notice that I have
  rotated my phone or swung my virtual tennis
  racquet
• Example Requirements for solution required HP to
  develop new MEMS process to meet tougher specs
• 1000x higher resolution lt1 micro-g to 10g
• Maintain small form factor, low power

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RF MEMS

• Trend 9 RF MEMS are finally here!
• Process issues held RF MEMS delayed market entry
  for devices like RF switches
• Replacement technology as good electronics
  solutions exist must compete on price,
  performance and meet form factor
• Example WiSpry- tunable elements
• Applications understanding was key to insertion
• MEMS advantages lead to new system architectures
  and possibilities

Source Yole/SEMI MEMS Market Report, 2009
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Trends to Opportunities

• Opportunities- Fabless system companies can take
  off the shelf MEMS sensors and combine them
• New software companies can address the need for
  signal analysis
• Careful as both product companies and chip
  companies developing their own software now
• New MEMS technologies need to be developed to
  meet the new specs- VCs wont fund new fabs but
  plenty of mechanisms for prototyping
• Application knowledge important opportunities
  for application experts to utilize MEMS

Source Yole/SEMI MEMS Market Report, 2009
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Technologies
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CMOS MEMS -MEMSIC

• Trend 10 CMOS MEMS is becoming more prevalent
• Lots of choices but specific opportunity to take
  standard CMOS from a high volume foundry and post
  process by adding just a few steps
• Example MEMS IC integrates mixed signal
  processing and thermal accelerometer on same chip
  using standard CMOS IC process and simple post
  processing
• Advantages Can take advantage of low cost
  manufacturing
• CMOS MEMS is not for every application

Source MEMSIC
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MEMS and 3D IC Packaging

• Trend 11 Desire to use new technologies for
  performance enhancement chip stacking, through
  silicon vias (TSV), system in package (SIP)
• MEMS have driven the development from the need
  for multiple wafers for encapsulation and the
  desire to use multiple technologies
• 3D IC packaging uses MEMS processes to fabricate
  Via Last and Via First.
• Under development at both IC and packaging
  companies
• New packaging technologies are adding to the
  opportunities for improved product design but add
  design complexity
• Themo-mechanical issues are increasingly
  important for 3D/SiP

Source Silex
Yole, 2010
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Market Numbers

• MEMS packaging technology is fueling the IC
  industry
• MEMS wafers used for packaging are expected to
  exceed usage of wafers by the MEMS industry soon.

Source Yole
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Infrastructure MEMS SpecificTesting

• Trend 12 New MEMS specific equipment for
  fabrication, test and packaging is appearing
• MEMS test is application and MEMS specific
• Example Centipede Systems supplys MEMS specific
  test fixtures with pressure sensor sockets with a
  standardized transporter system

Source Yole/SEMI MEMS Market Report, 2009
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The  E  in MEMS

• Trend 13 IC design companies provide circuit
  design services to MEMS startups.
• MEMS manufacturers may lack circuit expertise,
  some MEMS start-ups fail not because of MEMS but
  because of the IC,
• IDMS like ST, TI, Analog and Bosch have both
  strong circuit design experience
• Errors are often made when circuits and MEMS are
  combined if they are designed separately
• Its not about the MEMS! Smart circuits can
  compensate for MEMS non-idealities.

Source Yole/SEMI MEMS Market Report, 2009
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Foundries

• Trend 14 Starting to see some unit process
  standardization at foundries
• Still a one product, one process business due to
  diversity
• Time to market pressures and long fab engagements
  are forcing at least some standard unit process
• Standard process modules and design rules enable
  many designers to engage the foundry
• Lets not beat up the fabs about standard
  processes they are just responding to customers,
  lets train more designers to innovate in design
  not process
• Design centers can target a given foundry and
  innovate in design not process
• Do we need the Mead and Conway of MEMS?- MEMS
  is like analog design 30-40 years ago

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Enabling MEMS in the Product
Trend 15 Industry talking about 3rd party IP,
IP not as well developed as IC industry For the
Microsystems market to grow even more system
designers must be able to use off the shelf MEMS
easily
Source UCSF
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Conclusions

• CMOS MEMS offers new opportunities for
  integration
• MEMS Infrastructure starting to take off-
  equipment suppliers, testing houses
• New opportunities for circuit design companies to
  partner with small MEMS companies without
  electronics expertise
• New opportunities for fabless design companies
  working with fabs with standard unit processes
• IP industry just starting to develop- will we
  have the ARM/ARC of MEMS? This business model is
  tough in MEMS
• Powering all of these new systems especially
  autonomous systems is increasingly important
• Making it easier for non-MEMS experts to use MEMS
  will also drive innovation
• Entering the MEMS market is not for the faint
  of heart, requires a good team, market timing and
  luck but there are many opportunities