IEEE SFBA MEMS & Sensors Chapter 20 September...

Next Generation MEMS ManufacturingIEEE SFBA MEMS & Sensors Chapter20 September 2017

Alissa M. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., Founder & Managing Member

Overview

• About AMFitzgerald• Retrospective: MEMS technology history and markets• Next generation MEMS processes and devices• A dilemma for foundries and MEMS startups

IEEE SFBA MEMS & Sensors Chapter © AMFitzgerald 2017

AMFitzgerald: Your Partner in Specialty Product Development

© AMFitzgerald 2017

MEMS Innovation MEMS Solutions Technology Strategy

IEEE SFBA MEMS & Sensors Chapter

AMFitzgerald develops innovative MEMS and sensor solutions for specialty applications.

We collaborate with our customers to create high value products enabled by customized micro-technology.

With integrity, expertise, and attention to detail, we deliver what has never been done before.

• Custom MEMS development for commercial products• Rapid prototyping on state-of-the-art tools • Sensor supply chain creation and management• Focus on high-performance, specialty sensor technology


AMFitzgerald in-house Strategic partners

Full development services from concept to production


Fab operations at 1500m2 UCB Marvell Nanolab

Headquarters in Burlingame, CA (near SFO)


Our work is at the leading edge in many markets


Typical revenue breakdown, by market

Cardiology guidewires,

pacemakers, pumps; diagnostic chips

Fiber optic networking, laser

system components,

infrared detectors

Atomic sensors, commercial print heads, quantum

computers

Microphones, pollution detectors

Aircraft, spacecraft sensors

MEMS Retrospective, 1980-2010

1980s MEMS Technology

• Key process innovation: Alkali etchants selective to silicon crystal planes


Source: mems-exchange.org

Source: Merit Sensor Source: SMI

Anodic- or frit-bonded glass

Piezoresistive pressure sensors

Inkjet nozzles

Anodic- or frit-bonded glass

MEMS nozzles

1990s MEMS Technology

• Key process innovation: CMOS-like MEMS, using sacrificial etch of layers


Sacrificial etch frees thin film mechanical structures

Analog Devices ADXL50

TI Digital Light Projection (DLP)

MEMS

BiCMOSreadout circuitry

Pixel array

Accelerometer

1990s-2000s MEMS Technology

• Key process innovation: Deep reactive ion etch (DRIE), or “the Bosch process”

• CMOS-friendly piezoelectric: AlN


DRIE

ST C5L24AAMFitzgerald

Avago Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FBAR)

“Comb drive” shapes used in many MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, actuators

>20:1 aspect ratio

MEMS industry dynamics


Annual sales,

USD M$

1000

500

200100

“Major Players”

Dominate the twohigh volume

markets: consumer and automotive

“The Long Tail”The other 400+ MEMS

companies with emerging technologies

Company ranking by annual sales

#1 #30

Flashback: the MEMS industry in 2006


’80s-’90s technology ’90s-’00s technologyMajor players in 2006 dominated with mature process technology in well-established markets

New processtechnologies and devices lurking in the Long Tail

InvenSense had just started in 2003

Flashback: the MEMS industry in 2006


Vertically-integrated IDM companies having captive CMOS fabs and lucrative non-MEMS business units prevalent

14 out of 30 using CMOS fabs

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2006-2007: Two consumer products that changed the MEMS industry

Nintendo Wii: proved value of MEMS motion sensors in consumer devices

Apple iPhone: dramatically expanded market for MEMS motion sensors and microphones


Analog Devices ADXL330 3-axis accel

InvenSenseIDG-600 2-axis gyro

STMicroLIS302DL 3-axis accel

2000s-2010s MEMS Technology

• Process innovation: aligned, eutectic wafer bonding with vacuum seal


Au-In or Al-GeMechanical seal and electrical connection

Silicon cap to create vacuum cavity

CMOSMEMS

MEMS and CMOS wafers fabbed separately, bonded together: smaller chip size

Gyroscopes, resonators, inertial measurement units, “combo” units

Source: InvenSense

Seven years later: MEMS market transformed


Winners: companies having MEMS for smartphones

Lexmark – off the chartEpson – last place

90s-00s tech

80s-90s tech

00s-10s tech, from the Long Tail

Early adopters of next gen MEMS manufacturing became the big winners

• Big risks, big payoffs– STMicroelectronics builds the first dedicated 200mm MEMS fab in 2005– Bosch opens its 200mm MEMS fab in 2010, not too late

• Dedicated MEMS fabs helped give ST and Bosch market power– Freedom to innovate without CMOS material restrictions– Quickly expanded product lines


Current market


16 out of 30 using CMOS fabs

Two foundries now on the list, each having a portfolio of fabless MEMS customersC

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MEMS retrospective insights

• Process innovation drives MEMS device innovation

• CMOS fabs have played a key role in MEMS since the 1990s– Semiconductor industry infrastructure needed to meet end-user demands for cost,

volume, and quality

• Today: MEMS + high volume → 200mm and CMOS-compatibility – Unless you have your own captive MEMS fab

• New entrants come from the Long Tail, with new technology


Next Generation MEMS, 2010-“MEMS Millennials”

Next generation MEMS are coming from academia, not industrial R&D

• Most new MEMS devices are being developed in research facilities, where process freedom exists

• New designs leverage new materials and processes – Many innovations were not developed with CMOS-compatibility in mind

• Technology commercialization path: startup company or spin-out

• Meanwhile, most IDMs have been expanding their product lines through M&A, not research


Next generation: Piezoelectric (PZT) MEMS

• Wide range of sensors and actuators possible using piezoelectrics– AlN resonators and

microphones established, due to CMOS-compatibility

• Process innovation: significant recent advances in thin film PZT deposition tools

• Major interest in PZT for superior d33 compared to AlN– PZT is not CMOS-compatible


Source: AMFitzgerald

Next generation: Glass (mid-process) MEMS

• Glass offers optical, electrical, and thermal advantages– Market pull for optical telecom,

RF devices

• Process innovation: Through Glass Vias (TGV)– Deep glass etch process

• Borosilicate glass preferred– CTE-matched to silicon to

facilitate bonding– But contains Na+, a CMOS

contaminant


MEMS switch: 5G mobile infrastructure

Hyperspectral imaging

• GaN epitaxy on silicon wafer– CMOS-compatible, but not

widely available

• Potential applications:– Low-loss resonators suitable

for high power applications, filters

– Timing, frequency reference– Harsh environment sensors:

accelerometers, pressure sensors

Next, next generation: Gallium nitride (GaN) MEMS


Source: Rais-Zadeh lab

Source: Weinstein lab

Source: Senesky XLab

Next, next generation: Graphene MEMS


Source: UC Berkeley, Lin lab

• Graphene formed in CVD process with nickel or copper catalysts– Process in development

• Potential applications:– Mass or gas sensors

Selective gas sensing using a single FET

NH3, NO2, H2O, CH3OH Microwatt power

– Supercapacitors

The next generation of MEMS, almost ready for market

Application Sensor/DeviceType(s)

Special Process Needs

Example Company

Audio Microspeakers Piezoelectrics (PZT) USound

Inspection and Security

IR and HyperspectralImagers Glass Unispectral

Communication Switches, varactors Glass Menlo Micro

Cameras Auto Focus Piezoelectrics (PZT), Glass poLight

Gesture Recognition Ultrasound Piezoelectrics (AlN) Chirp Microsystems

Micro Power Energy harvester Piezoelectrics (AlN) microGen


The smartphone (and consumer electronics) is still the ‘killer app’

• Next generation MEMS devices are aiming for the smartphone – Still the obvious high volume market

• Next generation MEMS startup companies are fabless– Investors don’t pay to build fabs!

• Access to high volume 200mm foundries will be key to scaling the business– Apple, Samsung, etc. won’t tolerate smaller suppliers


The Dilemma

• “Irresistible force”: Exciting new MEMS that cannot be made CMOS-compatible without impairing device function

• “Immovable object”: High volume 200mm foundries cannot jeopardize their main CMOS business


Hard choices ahead for next generation MEMS startups

• Try to become CMOS-compatible ASAP– Compromise on performance, function, and/or cost

• Use smaller MEMS-specific fabs first, then find some way to transfer the CMOS fabs– Multiple fab transfers– Risks of re-engineering for CMOS compatibility– Slower time to market

• Could these MEMS be “dead on arrival” due to current lack of viable high volume manufacturing path?


Hard choices ahead for CMOS fabs

• Stick to CMOS-compatible– Miss out on the next big opportunities in MEMS– Existing MEMS business will become increasingly

commoditized as technology ages

• Build MEMS-specific fabs– (Or repurpose existing 200mm semiconductor fabs)

• Find ways to manage risks of handling non-CMOS materials mid-process– Can equipment makers help find a solution?


PZT and the metallic electrodes patterned by dry-etch

200mm MEMS-specific foundries are responding

• STMicroelectronics Foundry– Thin film PZT process already in

production at Agrate fab– Allows glass – USound, poLight publicly

announced collaborations

• Silex Microsystems– Adding thin film PZT– Already allows glass


Top Electrode

Bottom Electrode

PZT

PZT

Top Electrode

Bottom Electrode

Oxide

Sloped sidewalls for good passivation step coverage

STMicro “Petra” process

Call to Action and Summary

• Next generation, fabless MEMS companies are seeking development on 200mm to serve high volume markets

• High volume foundries must consider adopting new processes or miss out on emerging MEMS opportunities

• The field is starting to move already. How will you find a path forward?

Contact: [email protected]’re hiring! Check our website on Monday.


mailto:[email protected]

IEEE SFBA MEMS & Sensors Chapter 20 September...

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