Global MEMS applications and its market

Ever wonder why when your smartphone is turned to the side, the screen automatically adjusts from portrait to landscape view, or how the controller of your gaming console responds to changes in direction, speed and acceleration? Behind these user-friendly capabilities lie the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer motion sensors—the critical enablers of such features, and one of the core elements which makes these smart phones and game consoles so popular.

MEMS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
MEMS technology is the integration of sensors, mechanical elements, actuators and electronics on a common silicon substrate through micro-fabrication technology. Often referred to as a system-on-a-chip (SoC), MEMS enables the development of smart products, conquering many market segments, ranging from solutions in automobiles, healthcare, mobile phones, biotech, consumer and more. According to Electronics Industry Market Research and Knowledge Network, the average annual growth of MEMS is more than 20 percent and is expected to reach over $10 billion in year 2010. In the next century, MEMS technology has been identified as one of the most promising technologies.

MEMS have many applications and are found in an increasingly large number of products. Some common areas of MEMS application include automotive, biotech and medical, and consumer electronics. MEMS is also used in BAW (Bulk Acoustic Wave) duplexers and filters, microphones, MEMS autofocus actuators, pressure sensors, MEMS pico-projectors and even MEMS gyroscopes.

MEMS COMPANIES
Worldwide, MEMS products are developed by a number of US and Asian companies such as STMicroelectronics (ST), Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), Hewlett-Packard (HP), Texas Instruments Inc. (TI), and Memsic. We now examine each manufacturer and their key MEMS products.

ST, one of the largest MEMS manufacturers overall, offers a wide array of choices of single and multi-axis gyroscopes with wide full-scale range, suitable for image stabilization in digital still camera and video camera, as well as for improved user experience in gaming application. ST also offers 3-axis gyroscope that accurately measures angular rates along three orthogonal axes. In addition, STM has also expanded its portfolio with next generation micromachined acoustic devices. The innovative MEMS microphone that incorporate Omron’s sensor technology enables significant improvement in sound quality, superior reliability, robustness and also cost-effectiveness for existing/emerging audio applications—in mobile phones, wireless devices, and handheld games. Importantly, MEMS microphone can be made smaller than the most compact ECMs (electrets condenser microphones) and are less susceptible to temperature variations, mechanical vibration and electromagnetic interference.

On its part, ADI offers both analog and digital omnidirectional MEMS microphones. Recently, ADI and Infineon Technologies have agreed to collaborate on the advancement of Next-generation Automotive Airbag Safety Systems. This ADI-Infineon collaboration will ensure alignment of the companies’ respective product roadmaps and interoperability of their sensors and chipsets. The collaboration will also accelerate the development of advanced airbag systems and provide safety system suppliers and OEMs’ access to a complete design platform that will enable a reliable, cost-effective and easy-to-use advanced airbag solution.

HP recently announced an inertial sensing technology that enables the development of digital MEMS accelerometers that can do the work of the high-end sensors. HP predicts that the technology will enable chips to be 1,000 times as sensitive as those high-volume products available in the market today. The sensor is based on HP’s MEMS technology, which was first commercialized in the company’s inkjet printer cartridges.

TI, meanwhile, has digital light processor (DLP) technology, which offers development platforms and chipsets to enable innovative applications that incorporate light processing and light steering needs. The company’s MEMS technology offers reliable single element analog mirrors for light steering applications, with highly reflective optical MEMS surfaces up to 9mm squared and simple drive requirements—making TI Analog Mirrors ideal choices for flexible system designs. TI Analog Mirrors can be used to precisely position and control laser light beams while enabling minimal loss of optical power, supporting a wide range of light beam steering applications in imaging and display, optical networking, free space optics, object detection and laser printing.

Another notable name, Memsic, has developed and brought to market a wide range of high performance accelerometers. With the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States requiring Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) systems to be present on all cars, truck and busses destined for the US market by the year 2012, and the European Commission confirming that it will implement a similar requirement, millions of Memsic acceleration sensors have already been deployed into VSC equipped cars and trucks. Now engineering teams working to meet governmental VSC requirements can design next generation VSC systems with a fully automotive qualified, road-proven sensor technology with a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)-compatible interface.

LOOKING AHEAD
It’s clear that MEMS has taken root in a wide array of applications for our everyday lives. Among the key drivers for its popularity is its low cost and small form factor, which eventually result in more-compact, light-weight and cheaper end products.

Not everything is rosy on the MEMS front, though. One challenge is the packaging due to the diversity of MEMS devices and the different environments they will each be exposed to. Packaging, combined with tests, can easily double costs. The search for standardized and cheaper packages that do not compromise the product’s performance has become MEMS designer’s primary focus. Currently across the globe, MEMS manufacturers are involved in a lot of R&D to strengthen their position in the packaging process and develop a new and specialized package for each new device.

There are significant improvements and engineering advances driving new understandings of what MEMS or SoC will mean for everyone as we move forward. These are challenging yet exciting times for design engineers indeed!