The vantage point, published.
The full MEMS Journal archive — 76 articles across two decades of sensors, MEMS, and microtechnology.
Motion sensing in the iPhone 4: electronic compass
by St.J. Dixon-Warren Engineering and Process Analysis Manager, Chipworks The iPhone 4 represents the next step in evolution of Apple's market leading smartphone technology. The previous two parts of this series reviewed the results of our teardown of the iPhone 4, plus included a discussion of the 3-axis…
SPTS acquires Tegal DRIE assets for $2.1 million
Tegal Corporation announced this week the sale of its DRIE and related assets to SPP Process Technology Systems ( SPTS ). Tegal will receive approximately $2.1 million in the transaction, including $1.6 million in cash and the assumption by SPTS of approximately $0.5 million of short-term liabilities. The deal…
X-FAB expands MEMS foundry, acquires MFI
X-FAB Silicon Foundries and MEMS Foundry Itzehoe GmbH (MFI) announced this week they will join forces to address the market for high-volume MEMS fabrication and will combine their existing MEMS foundry capabilities and resources. X-FAB acquired a 25.5-percent shareholding of MFI, subject to antitrust approval, with…
MEMS contributions grow for the control of atrial fibrillation
by John Williamson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal According to the American Heart Association, atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart disease affecting some 2.2 million Americans , most of whom are more than 50 years of age. Worldwide estimates range to 6 million patients. Atrial fibrillation is an…
STATUS: Publish
This full-day course provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of MEMS testing and reliability. The course has been developed by leading MEMS industry experts with direct experience in MEMS testing and reliability. Basic and advanced concepts are presented to provide the audience with a complete overview of…
Motion sensing in the iPhone 4: MEMS gyroscope
by St.J. Dixon-Warren Engineering and Process Analysis Manager, Chipworks Apple's iPhone 4 is a market leading consumer electronics device. The previous article in this series discussed Chipworks' teardown of the iPhone 4, followed by a discussion of the ST LIS331DLH three-axis accelerometer technology . This…
GlobalFoundries and IME to develop MEMS capacitive sensor technology
The Institute of Microelectronics ( IME ) in Singapore and GlobalFoundries are joining hands to develop MEMS based capacitive sensor platform technology for motion sensing applications that are relevant to consumer electronics, automotive and aerospace industries. MEMS capacitive sensor technologies are…
Motion sensing in the iPhone 4: MEMS accelerometer
by St.J. Dixon-Warren Engineering and Process Analysis Manager, Chipworks The power and attractiveness of Apple's iPhone 4 lies in the sophisticated integration of multiple sensing technologies . Of specific note is the integration of a full 9 degrees-of-freedom (DoF) motion sensing. The iPhone 4 is the first…
IME, Stanford to co-develop NEMS relay technology
The Institute of Microelectronics (IME) in Singapore, announced a collaborative partnership with Stanford University to develop nanoelectromechanical relay technology to enable ultra-low power computation . NEMS based integrated circuits are ideal for a wide range of emerging green electronics solutions as they…
Silicon DRIE for the TSV Age (Webinar Archive)
Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Time: 2PM EST / 11AM PST Sponsor: Tegal Corporation Speaker: Nicolas Launay, Research and Development Director and General Manager, Tegal France Archive: to request a copy of the webinar slides, please email Mike Pinelis at mike@memsinvestorjournal.com Topics include: * 3D…
MEMS and oceanographic research
by Paul Pyzowski , Guest Contributor This past year’s massive oil spill in the U.S. Gulf Coast only reinforced the importance of the world’s oceans as a source of food, minerals, and energy , as well as the oceans’ impact on climate and human living conditions. Although our scientific understanding of the oceans is…
Gyroscopes adding up to next commodity MEMS
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Three months ago you heard my prediction here that the iPhone would be getting a gyroscope soon, and last month the prophesy was fulfilled. Since then, even deeper reasons have emerged to be bullish on gyros . And mark your calendars with my new…
MEMS market to propel toward double-digit growth in 2010
Powered by the seemingly recession-proof performance of the mobile phone and consumer electronics segments, the market for MEMS sensors is set to return to growth in 2010 after two straight years of decline, according to iSuppli Corp . Approaching a point close to the historical peak of 2007 , MEMS revenue this…
MEMS Structural Reliability and Deep Reactive Ion Etch: How Are They Related? (Webinar Archive)
Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 Time: 2PM EST / 11AM PST Sponsor: Tegal Corporation Speaker: Alissa M. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., Managing Member, AM Fitzgerald & Associates Archive: to request a copy of the webinar slides, please email Mike Pinelis at mike@memsinvestorjournal.com Topics include: * Results of a brand new…
Microstaq aims microfluidics at HVAC
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration ( HVAC/R ) today use bulky solenoid-controlled valves to manage the flow of refrigerants. But Microstaq claims its MEMS based silicon expansion valve (SEV) is smaller and more accurate than both…
MEMS sensors meet low pressure challenge
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Ultra low pressure sensing got a microsystem solution recently when fabless MEMS pressure sensor specialist Acuity Inc. (Fremont, Calif.) decreased its full-scale reading to 10 mbar -- suitable for a wide range of low pressure applications like medical…
NASA tests MEMS in harsh environment of space
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Sandia Passive ISS Research Experiments (SPIRE) is currently testing a variety of materials and devices in the harsh space environment at the International Space Station (ISS). The SPIRE program was an accelerated 18-month development effort that is…
COMSOL Multiphysics for MEMS Applications (Webinar Archive)
Date: May 19, 2010 Sponsor: COMSOL Speaker: Yeswanth Rao, Applications Engineer Slides: please click here to download Questions: please email support@comsol.com about COMSOL's software capabilities and your specific application requirements Webinar recording: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Topics include: * MEMS device…
MEMS innovator targets wireless health
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal The West Wireless Health Institute (WWHI, San Diego, Calif.) has recruited MEMS pioneer Mehran Mehregany to head its engineering department. WWHI aims to l ower medical costs with wireless telemedicine devices that monitor and supervise a patient's…
Microfluidics harnesses liquid wires and glass electrodes
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Today micro-electro-mechanical systems are enabling lab-on-chip devices that pump picoliters of liquid reagents around on a substrate the same way that electrons are shuttled around on an ordinary microchip. These microfluidic devices promise to…
The rise, fall, and rise of microfluidics
by Paul Pyzowski , Guest Contributor Truly transformative technologies tend to emerge from relative obscurity, where investors move quickly from manic overhype to utter despair, only to then be followed by the long and hard slog to deliver on the original promise. But ultimately the results surpass the initial hype…
UCLA to develop rotating MEMS
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Newcomers usually expect that MEMS devices like gyroscopes have internal rotating gymbals similar to their life-sized counterparts. Unfortunately, so far no commercial MEMS chips employ moving parts that are not tethered. Now researchers at the…
Medical applications herald third wave of MEMS
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal The first wave of MEMS was automotive and the killer app was airbag triggers . The second wave of MEMS was consumer electronics and portrait-to-landscape auto-switching was the killer app. Now the third wave of MEMS has begun, according to…
Tessera adding MEMS auto focus to camera offerings
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Digital camera modules in smartphones are Siimpel Corp's (Arcadia, Calif.) target market for its ultra-small MEMS auto focus and shutter mechanism. Tessera Technologies Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) -- the long-time consumer electronics chip maker -- recently…