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September 22, 2008
Compiled by George Allen
We recommend seeing ‘MEMS in the Machine’–An interactive flash demo highlighting some of the hottest applications using MEMS today. - MEMS Industry Group
Optimizing MEMS manufacturing would appear to follow traditional semiconductor processes and use similar machine technology. But MEMS production can often implement 250 or more operations for a single product1.
This multitude of steps includes many traditional semiconductor procedures, but also involves a variety of custom fabrication and assembly manipulations particular to the proprietary technology. These complex manufacturing recipes increase the need for partnering with a good custom automation machine builder.
DWFritz Automation works with a variety of MEMS applications, building sophisticated automation to solve client manufacturers’ most difficult custom challenges. Our experienced, expert engineering team integrates intelligent machine vision, robotics, and micron-level precision technologies to deliver high efficiency production machines without sacrificing quality or creating excessive waste.
The following text includes excerpts from the MEMS Investor Journal [MEMS, Microfluidics and Microsystems Executive Review interviews] that bring MEMS industry leaders to comment on complex MEMS production variations, problems and opportunities:
Tight control of manufacturing flows and yield is one of the essential factors for success with MEMS manufacturers…
MEMS Investor Journal (IJ): What challenges do you see in the manufacturing flows that are specific to MEMS foundries?
Dan Estrada, Eyelit. The challenges are many with the inherent complexity of MEMS manufacturing. Managing these complex processes and assembly flows as well as associated data elements is difficult. MEMS are typically lower volume as compared to the traditional ICs manufacturers but have a higher product mix.
Additionally, with many MEMS products like accelerometers and ink jet heads you have to combine (stack/bond) wafers to make a die. This adds another layer of complexity for product tracking and genealogy…
The term "demand driven" or "demand driven supply networks" is thrown around. In MEMS, most of the supply problems are related to these complex manufacturing flows. It is not uncommon for our customers to have 250 or more steps or operations in single flow. Where a products cycle time ranges from 20 to 60 days. You need real-time detailed visibility into these complex flows to respond to customer requests promptly, cost-effectively and correctly.
Currently, numerous regulations are moving up the supply chain to device makers. For example, regulations such as WEEE/RoHS for electronics, Tread Act for the automotive industry, as well as the CFR 21 part 11 for medical device manufacturers.
MEMS IJ. What are the main challenges that you have seen in taking a MEMS product from the initial prototype stage to high volume fabrication?
Dave Monk, Freescale: The main challenge that I have observed for us and others in taking MEMS products from the initial prototype stage to high volume fabrication is what we term "industrialization". This is a process by which there are large run rates of products for short periods of time run through the production process lines to determine what issues may come up during ramp-up. This is still not done throughout the industry routinely and because of the limited maturity of MEMS (vs., for example, CMOS technology), there still exist issues that are only seen in the ppm range and not in the small volume prototype stage.
MEMS IJ: As a provider of MEMS foundry services in Europe, which MEMS applications do you see driving the strongest demand at this point?
Peter Pfluger, Tronic: As a contract manufacturer of custom MEMS components our views on the MEMS foundry requirements are probably incomplete. Indeed our customers are requiring much more from us than simply standard wafer processing. At the end of the day, our OEM partners are expecting qualified and tested custom products, not wafers or dies, usually delivered in the form of a packaged component that they can integrate directly in their system. For us the demand is now strongly driven by System in Package (SiP) requirements and we are continuously structuring ourselves to tackle those OEMs requirements.
MEMS IJ: Micralyne is in the MEMS foundry business and, as a result, works with many kinds of companies and applications. In your experience, what are the main challenges with fabrication of MEMS devices today?
Chris Lumb, Micralyne: Because MEMS is an enabling technology every MEMS device is unique: designers take advantage of the ability of MEMS to make devices that can’t be made any other way. This uniqueness, while offering design advantages, sometimes doesn’t allow designers to take advantage of standard manufacturing processes. So every device is manufactured differently, which means that it can be difficult to achieve manufacturing economies of scale. Because we’ve been in business a number of years, and we manufacture a broad range of products, we’ve invested significantly in standardizing manufacturing processes. This allows our engineers to pick from a variety of standard processes when developing a part for our clients, and this reduces both cost and time to market. Companies putting MEMS parts in their products should consider this when choosing a MEMS supplier and select one that has demonstrated capability in manufacturing parts similar to theirs.
MEMS IJ: What do you see as the main challenges in the MEMS industry right now. How are companies addressing these challenges?
Karen Lightman, MEMS Industry Group: Manufacturability for mass-market applications is a challenge in the MEMS industry. Companies are addressing this in different ways, including new manufacturing processes and strategic supply chain relationships. MEMS packaging is another big issue. In the MEMS process flow, for example, packaging considerations step between wafer processing and final assembly. Test should not be an afterthought.
We are also seeing some interesting future trends in MEMS packaging. While most people are still working with traditional packaging, we are seeing a definite migration towards MEMS integration with CMOS processes. Wafer-level encapsulation enables MEMS devices to be manufactured by standard CMOS foundries. And although not widely used yet, through-silicon-vias provide higher levels of system integration, which ultimately speeds up time-to-market.
The movement toward more standardized packaging structures and materials will enable our industry to leverage existing infrastructure from the IC industry. In addition to reducing costs, these packaging enhancements will help the MEMS industry take full advantage of the market for consumer applications.
MEMS IJ: How much should a company expect to spend on taking a MEMS technology from the lab to production?
Henne van Heeren, EnablingM3: If you take only the cost of transferring the technology from a prototyping facility to a fab where they have all of the processes available, the startup cost will be somewhere between 25,000 and 75,000 euro, assuming there are no design or process changes during the transfer. As a part of the whole cost of transferring a product to the market, which is usually $10-25 million, these costs are not very high. If the fab needs to develop new processes or install new equipment, costs will be substantially higher. So it’s important to think carefully of your design and develop into one of the standard MEMS processes.
MEMS IJ: What are some of the MEMS technologies which are currently the best candidates to be taken from lab to the foundry?
Henne van Heeren: A very interesting technology now being developed is thin film encapsulation. Compared to wafer bonding it is potentially cheaper, produces thinner dies and fits better into the standard packaging process.
I have a feeling that decreasing the real estate needed for the MEMS structures in sensors will become a new focal point. This will help making the products cheaper and the processes easier to integrate into CMOS.
In general, many of the interesting applications that will have a huge impact are not quite MEMS technologies per se, but are technologies that will shorten the design cycles such as maskless lithography and printing of electronics.
MEMS IJ: MEMS packaging has traditionally been especially challenging because nearly every process and device require a unique approach.
How has MEMS packaging evolved over time and are we getting closer to having industry standards?
Dr. Ken Gilleo, ET-Trends: MEMS is certainly the most difficult device for packaging standardization and the issue will only grow as advanced MEMS evolves. MEMS is a cluster of technologies that is still embryonic even though jetting chips and accelerometers are somewhat mature. Combining electronics with mechanics and optics creates unlimited possibilities. That said, the high-volume areas, like motion sensors, are converging toward similar packages where standards are practical. For example, wafer-level capping, followed by conventional over molding, is now the de facto standard for accelerometers. This high-volume area can, and should, move to standardization. But there will only be “islands” of standardization at best.
Emerging MEMS devices are going to require device-specific packaging far into the foreseeable future. The good news is that Wafer-Level Packaging (WLP) can make it possible for the device to become the package, and this could be the ultimate solution.
DWFritz Automation design engineers work closely with MEMS clients to define and develop their custom machine needs at each step of production. The many complexities of MEMS processing can almost always be managed with experience, skill and testing. Our team includes control, mechanical and fabrication experts working daily with state-of-the-art, proven technologies to help solve the most sophisticated micron-level automation problems. We produce efficient, custom production machines for the MEMS manufacturing industry.
References
MEMS Investor Journal: MEMS, Microfluidics and Microsystems Executive Review–articles:
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