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The full MEMS Journal archive — 441 articles across two decades of sensors, MEMS, and microtechnology.
Automotive MEMS: an overview of the top ten suppliers
Bosch , based in Germany, was the top supplier in the world last year of automotive MEMS sensors, a market in which shipments continue to expand strongly , but where revenue was being squeezed by marked price erosion , according to a new report from IHS . With revenues of $740 million , Bosch’s total amounted to…
MEMS ecosystem in Korea: an overview of key companies and organizations
Even with the presence of the consumer electronics giant Samsung and a strong R&D community, Korea’s MEMS ecosystem remains quite small. Among the top MEMS makers, not a single one is based in Korea. However, because of Samsung’s increasingly strong presence in the consumer electronics business, as well as the…
X-FAB expands MEMS manufacturing capabilities with two new dedicated MEMS fabs
X-FAB Silicon Foundries announced this week that it has reached a major milestone in further expanding its MEMS manufacturing capabilities in two of its German locations , Erfurt and Itzehoe. According to the company, driven by increased customer demand for MEMS manufacturing services, the expansion includes two…
Silex continues to focus on TSV technologies, pure play MEMS foundry model
The marketplace for MEMS foundry services is getting increasingly more competitive and globalized . Recently, large companies such as TSMC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES have been more aggressive in the MEMS space and, perhaps, are even subsidizing some projects to get more experience with the relevant process technologies.…
DelfMEMS raises $7.4 million for RF MEMS switch development
DelfMEMS, a startup company that has been developing RF MEMS switching solutions, announced this week that the company has secured $7.4 million in round C funding. The company said that the new investment will be used to support the company's growth in the next generation, wireless front-end modules for mobile…
Tronics rides the medical MEMS wave
According to our research, the MEMS market for medical applications is currently approximately $2.1 billion , and is projected to grow at double digit rates for the next decade . Since MEMS based motion sensors for consumer applications are rapidly getting commoditized , medical MEMS may represent the most…
MEMS microphone maker Knowles reports quarterly results
Knowles Corporation, a leading supplier of advanced micro-acoustic solutions , announced this week the results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Revenue for the first quarter of 2014 was $273.4 million , compared with $276.1 million reported in the same period one year ago. Gross profit for the first…
MEMS for consumer electronics: can InvenSense compete with ST and Bosch?
As average selling prices ( ASPs ) for sensors used in consumer electronics applications continue to drop , the competition among the top MEMS makers has intensified tremendously . One of the most recent examples of this trend has been the intellectual property dispute between ST and InvenSense, which the latter…
MEMS microphones growing strong, Apple and Samsung are top buyers
MEMS microphones, used in best-selling devices like Apple's iPhone , face a promising future as the market is projected to keep climbing in the coming years, according to a new report from IHS . Global revenue for MEMS microphones is forecast to reach $1.04 billion this year, up a robust 24 percent from $837…
InvenSense, Sonion announce MEMS microphone development alliance
InvenSense, a provider of MEMS motion sensors and microphones for the consumer electronics market, and Sonion, a provider of micro acoustic solutions for hearing instruments , in-ear earphones and specialty headsets, announced this week a strategic alliance in which the two parties will cooperate in the development…
Bosch is top MEMS device maker in 2013
Bosch became the top manufacturer of MEMS sensors and actuators in 2013, pulling out of a virtual tie with STMicroelectronics the previous year, and making history in the process as the first company to reach $1 billion in market revenue, according to new analysis from IHS . As the undisputed leader of the global…
MEMS foundry Rogue Valley Microdevices acquires Intel cleanroom equipment, announces expansion
Rogue Valley Microdevices (RVM), a MEMS foundry service provider, announced this week that it has acquired cleanroom equipment from the 10,000 square foot decommissioned Intel facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company said that it is planning a large expansion of its fabrication facilities. Rogue Valley…
MEMS foundry Tronics develops piezoresistive nanowire inertial MEMS sensor
One year after announcing the commercialization program of CEA-Leti's MEMS and NEMS technologies, MEMS foundry Tronics has successfully designed and manufactured the first batch of the six degree-of-freedom ( 6DOF ) MEMS motion sensor chips based on the piezoresistive nanowire technology, with three accelerometers…
An overview of high-performance MEMS based inertial sensors
A coming wave of high-performance MEMS based inertial sensors will enable lots of new applications . We recently spoke with Dr. Andrei Shkel , a Professor at the University of California at Irvine, who has served as a Program Manager at DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office . Dr. Shkel is also the event chair and…
MEMS makers ST, InvenSense announce settlement of pending patent litigation
STMicroelectronics and InvenSense , the leading makers of MEMS based motion sensors , announced this week that they have settled all pending proceedings between them and have entered into a patent cross license agreement. The two companies had instituted various proceedings beginning in May 2012 in the United…
Si-Ware's MEMS based spectrometer gaining traction in the marketplace
Depending on the performance , traditional spectrometers sell for $5,000 to as much as $100,000 per instrument. Si-Ware Systems (SWS) says that its MEMS based Fourier transform infrared ( FTIR ) spectrometer module enables instrument makers to sell their products at well below the current price levels. There are…
RF MEMS: an overview of packaging techniques
by Jacopo Iannacci, Ph.D. Researcher, Fondazione Bruno Kessler In developing packaging solutions for MEMS and RF MEMS devices , one must take several considerations into account. First, the main task of the package is to offer adequate protection to the devices from harmful factors, such as mechanical shocks as…
iGrant competition for MEMS and microsystems attracts 90+ participating companies
The inaugural iGrant program attracted 90+ MEMS and microsystems companies from all over the world. Sustainable Valley Technology Group ( SVTG ) and Rogue Valley Microdevices , who organized the competition, narrowed the semi-final round to the top 7 companies . Out of that semi-finalist group, the top two were…
Cost-driven design of MEMS devices and smart microsystems
by Michael Niedermayer, Ph.D. Group Manager, Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration Almost unnoticed, microsystems are increasingly taking over essential tasks in our everyday lives. These very small devices assist doctors during operations, control the room climate , and improve the safety of…
Automotive sector keeps magnetic sensors market ticking
Semiconductor magnetic sensors are on track to attain 7 percent revenue growth this year, due to widespread adoption in the automotive sector, according to a new report from IHS . Global market revenue for magnetic sensors will reach $1.73 billion at year-end, up from $1.62 billion in 2012. Next year will see…
Audio Pixels, ICsense partner to produce MEMS based speaker chips
Audio Pixels, a fabless semiconductor company focused on the development and production of MEMS based digital speaker chips, and ICsense , a European ASIC design company, announced this week that they have entered into a comprehensive agreement directed to support the production needs of Audio Pixels' patented low…
Smart sensors: packaging, testing, and reliability
by Randy Frank President, Randy Frank & Associates All the advances and research occurring in micromachining would lead one to believe that breakthroughs in these areas will be sufficient to revolutionize sensing . Unfortunately, the problems associated with the basic sensor packaging are compounded when the sensor…
Tronics delivers its millionth high performance inertial MEMS sensor
After more than a decade in the business, Tronics has sold more than one million high performance inertial MEMS sensors. These products were primarily high-performance accelerometers and gyroscopes . In markets where yearly volumes are typically in the thousands , one million is a significant number.…
Wearable electronics: huge opportunity for MEMS based sensors
Major companies such as Apple , Google , Microsoft are increasingly getting into the wearable computing business. The opportunity is huge, especially for makers of MEMS based sensors , electronics, and associated software. Philippe Kahn , who created the first camera phone in 1997, is one of the pioneers in this…