Monday, December 17, 2007
Benefits of Technology
by Michael Orshan
It is so easy to get excited about new science. I do it all the time when I see something new work. I’m in this business because I just get high on seeing new things. My imagination runs wild. However, this is about reality not imagination.
Early in my career I got a call from a guy who asked if I knew a protocol called GR303. It allowed telecommunication carriers to double the amount of lines in the local loop. This was 1994 and the average length of a call went from 5 minutes to 20 minutes due to Internet dial up. Sure, I said, and then found out that my company really did know this.
This required some new technologies mixed with existing ones. We are all used to that scenario. Then I wanted to make more engagements with this. To do this I needed to spend a month really researching the technology and the basics of marketing. I have said these before and I always want to push this.
1. What are your products and services
2. Who are your primary targets
3. What campaign can you do to get those targets
In this case I soon realized that anyone with a particular type of equipment needed to upgrade to this protocol sooner or later. By the way, these were multi million dollar deals. So, luckily, I quickly found out the targets. Now, for the campaign.
I hired a few people and they wrote, called or went to these companies. Soon new engagements occurred. Soon, we modularized the process and even more opportunities followed. The costs went down for the clients as the amount of engagements increased.
The key to this story is the benefit of technology. I was lucky, it fell into my lap. As this every happened to you? I’d like to hear similar stories!
It is so easy to get excited about new science. I do it all the time when I see something new work. I’m in this business because I just get high on seeing new things. My imagination runs wild. However, this is about reality not imagination.
Early in my career I got a call from a guy who asked if I knew a protocol called GR303. It allowed telecommunication carriers to double the amount of lines in the local loop. This was 1994 and the average length of a call went from 5 minutes to 20 minutes due to Internet dial up. Sure, I said, and then found out that my company really did know this.
This required some new technologies mixed with existing ones. We are all used to that scenario. Then I wanted to make more engagements with this. To do this I needed to spend a month really researching the technology and the basics of marketing. I have said these before and I always want to push this.
1. What are your products and services
2. Who are your primary targets
3. What campaign can you do to get those targets
In this case I soon realized that anyone with a particular type of equipment needed to upgrade to this protocol sooner or later. By the way, these were multi million dollar deals. So, luckily, I quickly found out the targets. Now, for the campaign.
I hired a few people and they wrote, called or went to these companies. Soon new engagements occurred. Soon, we modularized the process and even more opportunities followed. The costs went down for the clients as the amount of engagements increased.
The key to this story is the benefit of technology. I was lucky, it fell into my lap. As this every happened to you? I’d like to hear similar stories!
Tiny MEMS-based spectrometer offers dynamic spectral resolution
As hyperspectral imaging systems improve and collect more data, processing the increasingly larger data sets becomes more expensive and time consuming. Meanwhile, the size and weight of the equipment are often a concern in air- and space-borne platforms. Researchers at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN) have introduced a prototype hyperspectral imaging system that addresses both of these concerns. The push-broom-type design includes several gratings with different pitches in the optical system.
The spectrometer incorporates microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirrors that direct the light to the desired grating. This allows adaptive space-variant dispersion (control of the spectral resolution as a function of the image-point location, changing in time) to optimize spectral performance. The resulting device measures only 4 × 1 × 2 mm, allowing the tiling of multiple spectrometers in an array for large-image formats. The compact size gives a modest spectral resolution of 7.5 to 15 nm, sufficient for many hyperspectral imaging applications where high spatial resolution is required. The prototype imaging system covers a wavelength range of 500 to 1000 nm. Contact James Leger at leger@umn.edu.
Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2007
The spectrometer incorporates microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirrors that direct the light to the desired grating. This allows adaptive space-variant dispersion (control of the spectral resolution as a function of the image-point location, changing in time) to optimize spectral performance. The resulting device measures only 4 × 1 × 2 mm, allowing the tiling of multiple spectrometers in an array for large-image formats. The compact size gives a modest spectral resolution of 7.5 to 15 nm, sufficient for many hyperspectral imaging applications where high spatial resolution is required. The prototype imaging system covers a wavelength range of 500 to 1000 nm. Contact James Leger at leger@umn.edu.
Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2007
E-Mul buys Quantomix
E-Mul Technologies, a Yavne, Israel-based maker of particle detection and field emission components used in nanotech instruments, has acquired QuantomiX, a Rehovet, Israel-based developer of a capsule technology that enables direct imaging of wet samples in scanning electron microscopes. No financial terms were disclosed. QuantomiX had raised about $13.5 million in VC funding since 2001 from such firms as Evergreen Venture Capital, Pitango Venture Capital, Shrem Fudim Kelner Technolofies and Vitalife Life Sciences Fund.
MEMS Industry Group Achieves Milestones in 2007-Leading Trade Association Increases Membership, Hosts Successful MEMS Executive Congress, Names Managi
Market Wire (December 5, 2007)
PITTSBURGH, PA, Dec 05, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- As microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices proliferate beyond inkjet printers and airbags to mobile phones and consumer electronics, automotive safety, and medical technology, the industry group dedicated to the commercialization of MEMS has experienced unprecedented growth. In 2007, MEMS Industry Group (MIG), the trade association representing the MEMS and microstructures industries, has boosted membership by 20%, brought record numbers of attendees to its annual event, MEMS Executive Congress, named a managing director, and signed strategic agreements with industry analysts and organizations.
Expanding Membership
MIG welcomed a number of companies, large and small, to its membership, including: Analog Devices, Maxim Technology Products, Acuity Micro, Acutronic USA, ARC Technologies, Axept, FEI Company, MEI LLC, MEMStaff, Microvision, NIST, Nova Electronic Materials, Plan Optik, Primaxx, Inc., Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Siimpel Corporation and Silex Microsystems.
Highlights from MEMS Executive Congress
A record number of attendees joined MIG at its second annual MEMS Executive Congress, held November 4-5, 2007 in Del Mar, CA. The Congress featured presentations and panel discussions in which industry visionaries shared the latest innovations in commercial MEMS technology with an executive audience. Highlights included:
-- Three keynote speakers offering their perspective on the future of the
MEMS Industry. Dr. Frederic Neftel, President and CEO, Debiotech SA spoke
about the trend toward 'smaller, precise, robust and disposable devices, a
transformation enabled by MEMS technology;' Brian Wirth, Global Product
Manager, MEMS, GE Sensing, discussed the diverse applications for MEMS in
environmental, energy and healthcare markets; and Philippe Kahn, Chairman,
Fullpower Technologies, expounded on 'how software will enable MEMS to
truly take off -- as demonstrated by the success of the iPhone';
-- Panel discussions on Mobile Media (featuring Nokia, Qualcomm, Texas
Instruments, Microvision, SiRF and Discera), Medical Technology (featuring
Honeywell, OMRON, GE Sensing, Cleveland Medical Devices, Medtronic and
IceMOS Technology), and Consumer Goods (featuring Analog Devices,
InvenSense, Akustica and Siimpel); and
-- Special presentations by EnOcean, Yole Developpement and Wicht
Technologie Consulting.
MEMS Executive Congress 2008 will be held November 5-7 in Monterey, CA.
Highlights from METRIC
At MIG's annual members-only meeting, METRIC, held May 15-16 2007, conference attendees joined to address specific challenges affecting the MEMS industry. Device manufacturers, foundries and MEMS services, and equipment manufacturers explored topics spanning MEMS processes, design rules and best practices for accelerated growth. Working groups also met by market segments: Industrial, Telecom, Medical, Entertainment, and Defense/Homeland Security focused on common challenges and disconnects among these market segments. MIG is currently undertaking recommendations made during METRIC 2007, including the creation of a MIG member capability directory. METRIC 2008 will be held May 7-9 in Pittsburgh, PA.
Strategic Relationships Formed by a New Managing Director
Under the aegis of its new managing director, Karen Lightman, MIG formalized a number of strategic industry relationships this year. MIG developed alliances with Bourne Research, Chipworks, MicroElectronics Packaging and Test Engineering Council. (MEPTEC), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC), and Yole Developpement. From discounts on industry research to collaborative relationships with other trade associations, MIG's strategic partnerships benefit its member companies in many ways.
Looking Forward to 2008
"2007 has been a tremendous year of positive change and growth for MIG, and we anticipate that 2008 will bring even more benefits to our members and to the industry at large," said Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group. "In addition to continuing our cornerstone conferences, METRIC and MEMS Executive Congress, MIG 2008 will launch a series of MEMS business short-courses. These short-courses will provide attendees an insider's view and historical perspective on the critical elements affecting MEMS product success and profitability. This program is another example of how, through its members, MIG is the virtual and physical place for people and organizations to come together to address industry issues and further the commercialization of MEMS."
About MEMS Industry Group
MEMS Industry Group is the trade association representing the MEMS and microstructures industries. The Association enables the exchange of non-proprietary information among members; provides reliable industry data that furthers the development of technology; and works toward the greater commercial development and use of MEMS and MEMS-enabled devices. MIG includes more than 75 member companies, such as Analog Devices, Bosch, Freescale Semiconductor, GE Global Research, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, Okmetic, OMRON, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. For more information, please visit www.memsindustrygroup.org.
PRESS CONTACTS (For Editors Only): MEMS Industry Group Karen Lightman Phone: 412/390-1644 Email: Email Contact
Vetrano Communications Maria Vetrano Phone: 617/876-2770 Email: Email Contact
SOURCE: MEMS Industry Group
CONTACT: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct"id=2D81EB8A13D78C20
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct"id=4A4F9DF5740040A3
(C) 2007 Market Wire. All Rights Reserved
PITTSBURGH, PA, Dec 05, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- As microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices proliferate beyond inkjet printers and airbags to mobile phones and consumer electronics, automotive safety, and medical technology, the industry group dedicated to the commercialization of MEMS has experienced unprecedented growth. In 2007, MEMS Industry Group (MIG), the trade association representing the MEMS and microstructures industries, has boosted membership by 20%, brought record numbers of attendees to its annual event, MEMS Executive Congress, named a managing director, and signed strategic agreements with industry analysts and organizations.
Expanding Membership
MIG welcomed a number of companies, large and small, to its membership, including: Analog Devices, Maxim Technology Products, Acuity Micro, Acutronic USA, ARC Technologies, Axept, FEI Company, MEI LLC, MEMStaff, Microvision, NIST, Nova Electronic Materials, Plan Optik, Primaxx, Inc., Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Siimpel Corporation and Silex Microsystems.
Highlights from MEMS Executive Congress
A record number of attendees joined MIG at its second annual MEMS Executive Congress, held November 4-5, 2007 in Del Mar, CA. The Congress featured presentations and panel discussions in which industry visionaries shared the latest innovations in commercial MEMS technology with an executive audience. Highlights included:
-- Three keynote speakers offering their perspective on the future of the
MEMS Industry. Dr. Frederic Neftel, President and CEO, Debiotech SA spoke
about the trend toward 'smaller, precise, robust and disposable devices, a
transformation enabled by MEMS technology;' Brian Wirth, Global Product
Manager, MEMS, GE Sensing, discussed the diverse applications for MEMS in
environmental, energy and healthcare markets; and Philippe Kahn, Chairman,
Fullpower Technologies, expounded on 'how software will enable MEMS to
truly take off -- as demonstrated by the success of the iPhone';
-- Panel discussions on Mobile Media (featuring Nokia, Qualcomm, Texas
Instruments, Microvision, SiRF and Discera), Medical Technology (featuring
Honeywell, OMRON, GE Sensing, Cleveland Medical Devices, Medtronic and
IceMOS Technology), and Consumer Goods (featuring Analog Devices,
InvenSense, Akustica and Siimpel); and
-- Special presentations by EnOcean, Yole Developpement and Wicht
Technologie Consulting.
MEMS Executive Congress 2008 will be held November 5-7 in Monterey, CA.
Highlights from METRIC
At MIG's annual members-only meeting, METRIC, held May 15-16 2007, conference attendees joined to address specific challenges affecting the MEMS industry. Device manufacturers, foundries and MEMS services, and equipment manufacturers explored topics spanning MEMS processes, design rules and best practices for accelerated growth. Working groups also met by market segments: Industrial, Telecom, Medical, Entertainment, and Defense/Homeland Security focused on common challenges and disconnects among these market segments. MIG is currently undertaking recommendations made during METRIC 2007, including the creation of a MIG member capability directory. METRIC 2008 will be held May 7-9 in Pittsburgh, PA.
Strategic Relationships Formed by a New Managing Director
Under the aegis of its new managing director, Karen Lightman, MIG formalized a number of strategic industry relationships this year. MIG developed alliances with Bourne Research, Chipworks, MicroElectronics Packaging and Test Engineering Council. (MEPTEC), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC), and Yole Developpement. From discounts on industry research to collaborative relationships with other trade associations, MIG's strategic partnerships benefit its member companies in many ways.
Looking Forward to 2008
"2007 has been a tremendous year of positive change and growth for MIG, and we anticipate that 2008 will bring even more benefits to our members and to the industry at large," said Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group. "In addition to continuing our cornerstone conferences, METRIC and MEMS Executive Congress, MIG 2008 will launch a series of MEMS business short-courses. These short-courses will provide attendees an insider's view and historical perspective on the critical elements affecting MEMS product success and profitability. This program is another example of how, through its members, MIG is the virtual and physical place for people and organizations to come together to address industry issues and further the commercialization of MEMS."
About MEMS Industry Group
MEMS Industry Group is the trade association representing the MEMS and microstructures industries. The Association enables the exchange of non-proprietary information among members; provides reliable industry data that furthers the development of technology; and works toward the greater commercial development and use of MEMS and MEMS-enabled devices. MIG includes more than 75 member companies, such as Analog Devices, Bosch, Freescale Semiconductor, GE Global Research, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, Okmetic, OMRON, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. For more information, please visit www.memsindustrygroup.org.
PRESS CONTACTS (For Editors Only): MEMS Industry Group Karen Lightman Phone: 412/390-1644 Email: Email Contact
Vetrano Communications Maria Vetrano Phone: 617/876-2770 Email: Email Contact
SOURCE: MEMS Industry Group
CONTACT: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct"id=2D81EB8A13D78C20
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct"id=4A4F9DF5740040A3
(C) 2007 Market Wire. All Rights Reserved
Will 3D keep the chip industry rolling?
There may be trouble ahead for the conventional shrink approach to Moore’s Law. Lithography looks dicey for 32nm (which might be reached through dual imaging with improved 193nm immersion stepper/scanners), and even trickier for 22nm. Even if EUV surmounts remaining technical hurdles, there are concerns about cost and productivity. While some believe nanoimprinting offers promise, defectivity may spoil the party. Aside from lithography issues, some experiments suggest that even with the best technical efforts there may be no performance difference between 32nm and 22nm half-pitch chips. If so, why make the huge investments to reach 22nm?
When traditional transistor scaling began to fail, chips were speeded up by using stressed lattice silicon to boost carrier mobility. That interim solution, even with metal gates and higher-k gate dielectrics to gain improved equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) under the gate, appears to lose steam below 32nm. Interconnect delays were cut by going to copper for better resistivity, and low-k dielectrics to improve the C of the RC time constant. But ever thinner copper traces, and trouble with mechanical strength and delamination of low-k dielectrics, spell trouble below 32nm.
Maybe the industry will find miraculous cures for all these red brick walls-it’s happened before! But the physics gets progressively more constraining, and potential solutions involving new materials, processes, and more intricate process tools to continue the shrink will significantly increase fab costs. (Costs are already getting too high for even some major integrated device manufacturers.) Even if solutions are found, experience shows that the tougher the problems, the longer it takes to find practical, economical solutions.
Could stacking and bonding thinned chips (or even wafers) provide an alternate way to keep driving down the cost/function? Conventional stacking is widely used already, but connecting only around the edges of the chips creates long trace paths, degrading performance. A much better approach would be to use through silicon vias (TSVs), allowing shorter traces, and, with clever layout, perhaps even improving performance compared to putting all the circuits onto one chip. That potentially could provide a packaging approach to 3D integrated circuits with much higher apparent density than is possible on one chip. Even beyond that, it might be possible to build up layers of interconnected circuits on the same substrate, making true 3D ICs, an approach Samsung demonstrated for flash memory at the last IEDM.
Development work on TSVs, bonded thin wafers and chips, and multichip packages has been going on for a long time. But taking advantage of the full potential of 3D approaches would require much more intensive R&D, not just for laboratory demonstrations, but for practical, economical, high productivity fab and packaging processes. Heat is already a problem on single chips, but thermal problems would become much more serious in a high performance chip stack. Taking full advantage of 3D would require new approaches to chip design, new design automation software, lower cost ways to drill or etch out TSVs and fill them, ways to deal with hot spots (especially inside the stack), and methods for testing with most contacts inaccessible. Failures might occur during stacking and bonding even if known good die are used, cutting yields.
All the chipmakers are exploring the potential for 3D, and see these techniques as a way to keep increasing circuit density even if it takes too long to get to 22nm, or it proves too tough and expensive. Sematech has been driving the push toward 3D, and, as it prepares to move the work to its branch in Albany, NY, it held a workshop there to explore 3D design and thermal issues. There were about 75 attendees, and presentations outlined the myriad potential problems and possible solutions to move ICs into a third dimension. Since everything from system design to circuit and device design, to interconnect and layout, plus packaging and testing, must be considered, this area will require a multidiscipline approach without the turf wars and “throw it over the wall” attitudes of the past.
Once the practical problems are worked out, new approaches to functionality and system architecture capitalizing on the 3D form factor could go way beyond the multicore, multithreading techniques now emerging to deal with performance limits and thermal constraints.
One speaker who teaches university classes commented that he told his students they were extremely lucky to be getting into a field like this just as it is taking shape. There should be exciting times ahead for those working on 3D ICs.
Robert Haavind
Editorial Director
Solid State Technology December, 2007
Author(s) : Robert Haavind
When traditional transistor scaling began to fail, chips were speeded up by using stressed lattice silicon to boost carrier mobility. That interim solution, even with metal gates and higher-k gate dielectrics to gain improved equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) under the gate, appears to lose steam below 32nm. Interconnect delays were cut by going to copper for better resistivity, and low-k dielectrics to improve the C of the RC time constant. But ever thinner copper traces, and trouble with mechanical strength and delamination of low-k dielectrics, spell trouble below 32nm.
Maybe the industry will find miraculous cures for all these red brick walls-it’s happened before! But the physics gets progressively more constraining, and potential solutions involving new materials, processes, and more intricate process tools to continue the shrink will significantly increase fab costs. (Costs are already getting too high for even some major integrated device manufacturers.) Even if solutions are found, experience shows that the tougher the problems, the longer it takes to find practical, economical solutions.
Could stacking and bonding thinned chips (or even wafers) provide an alternate way to keep driving down the cost/function? Conventional stacking is widely used already, but connecting only around the edges of the chips creates long trace paths, degrading performance. A much better approach would be to use through silicon vias (TSVs), allowing shorter traces, and, with clever layout, perhaps even improving performance compared to putting all the circuits onto one chip. That potentially could provide a packaging approach to 3D integrated circuits with much higher apparent density than is possible on one chip. Even beyond that, it might be possible to build up layers of interconnected circuits on the same substrate, making true 3D ICs, an approach Samsung demonstrated for flash memory at the last IEDM.
Development work on TSVs, bonded thin wafers and chips, and multichip packages has been going on for a long time. But taking advantage of the full potential of 3D approaches would require much more intensive R&D, not just for laboratory demonstrations, but for practical, economical, high productivity fab and packaging processes. Heat is already a problem on single chips, but thermal problems would become much more serious in a high performance chip stack. Taking full advantage of 3D would require new approaches to chip design, new design automation software, lower cost ways to drill or etch out TSVs and fill them, ways to deal with hot spots (especially inside the stack), and methods for testing with most contacts inaccessible. Failures might occur during stacking and bonding even if known good die are used, cutting yields.
All the chipmakers are exploring the potential for 3D, and see these techniques as a way to keep increasing circuit density even if it takes too long to get to 22nm, or it proves too tough and expensive. Sematech has been driving the push toward 3D, and, as it prepares to move the work to its branch in Albany, NY, it held a workshop there to explore 3D design and thermal issues. There were about 75 attendees, and presentations outlined the myriad potential problems and possible solutions to move ICs into a third dimension. Since everything from system design to circuit and device design, to interconnect and layout, plus packaging and testing, must be considered, this area will require a multidiscipline approach without the turf wars and “throw it over the wall” attitudes of the past.
Once the practical problems are worked out, new approaches to functionality and system architecture capitalizing on the 3D form factor could go way beyond the multicore, multithreading techniques now emerging to deal with performance limits and thermal constraints.
One speaker who teaches university classes commented that he told his students they were extremely lucky to be getting into a field like this just as it is taking shape. There should be exciting times ahead for those working on 3D ICs.
Robert Haavind
Editorial Director
Solid State Technology December, 2007
Author(s) : Robert Haavind
Mass market makes a MEMS move
17 December 2007
R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
November 20, 2007 (11:32 AM EST)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) penetrated the mass market two decades ago, when they enabled air bags to trigger fast enough to catch passengers before they hit the steering wheel or windshield. MEMS chips gained a major business-market design-win a decade ago, when they began to be used to fabricate the high-precision ink-jet print-heads that displaced impact printers.
Now, MEMS chips are entering the consumer-electronics mainstream with the same invigorating effect. Most recently, we're seeing MEMS technology being used in Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone, and this may just be the beginning. The real volume customers will be the mainstream consumer-electronics makers adding MEMS chips to their ubiquitous devices. "We are at the edge of a mass market--today's MEMS applications are just the early adopters," said Bosch-Sensortec general manager and chief executive officer Frank Melzer. "The true mass-market adoption of MEMS will come when designers understand how a single MEMS sensor can have multiple uses in a single device, and when they learn how to use multiple sensors together to solve tough problems."
Bosch-Sensortec is the CE division of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest MEMS chip maker, which spun off its consumer electronics division in 2005. Now, Bosch-Sensortec has seven MEMS chips available for consumer applications--two pressure sensors for altimeters and navigation; two gyroscopes for image-stabilization applications; and three accelerometers, including a second-generation three-axis unit, the SMB380, which was recently dissected by Chipworks (Ottawa, Canada).
"Bosch's decision to spin-out its Sensortec division, dedicated to consumer electronics, appears to be paying off," said St. John Dixon-Warren, head of Chipworks Technical Intelligence Process Engineering team. "When we opened their new digital accelerometer, the SMD380, we found the MEMS die next to the ASIC instead of on top of it like before--that's how they made it thinner, which is what consumer devices need. Plus, Bosch has shrunk both the MEMS die and the ASIC, which is also what they needed to do to meet price concessions to mass-market customers while still making a profit."
Together with its parent company Robert Bosch, Bosch-Sensortec had MEMS sales in excess of $370 million last year--more than any other MEMS chip maker, according to Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC). STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor ranked second and third in WTC's ranking. Bosch intends to keep its lead, too; for instance, it just invested in a new 8-inch fab in Reutlingen, Germany, where up to thousand wafers containing up to one million chips per day will start being produced by 2009.
R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
November 20, 2007 (11:32 AM EST)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) penetrated the mass market two decades ago, when they enabled air bags to trigger fast enough to catch passengers before they hit the steering wheel or windshield. MEMS chips gained a major business-market design-win a decade ago, when they began to be used to fabricate the high-precision ink-jet print-heads that displaced impact printers.
Now, MEMS chips are entering the consumer-electronics mainstream with the same invigorating effect. Most recently, we're seeing MEMS technology being used in Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone, and this may just be the beginning. The real volume customers will be the mainstream consumer-electronics makers adding MEMS chips to their ubiquitous devices. "We are at the edge of a mass market--today's MEMS applications are just the early adopters," said Bosch-Sensortec general manager and chief executive officer Frank Melzer. "The true mass-market adoption of MEMS will come when designers understand how a single MEMS sensor can have multiple uses in a single device, and when they learn how to use multiple sensors together to solve tough problems."
Bosch-Sensortec is the CE division of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest MEMS chip maker, which spun off its consumer electronics division in 2005. Now, Bosch-Sensortec has seven MEMS chips available for consumer applications--two pressure sensors for altimeters and navigation; two gyroscopes for image-stabilization applications; and three accelerometers, including a second-generation three-axis unit, the SMB380, which was recently dissected by Chipworks (Ottawa, Canada).
"Bosch's decision to spin-out its Sensortec division, dedicated to consumer electronics, appears to be paying off," said St. John Dixon-Warren, head of Chipworks Technical Intelligence Process Engineering team. "When we opened their new digital accelerometer, the SMD380, we found the MEMS die next to the ASIC instead of on top of it like before--that's how they made it thinner, which is what consumer devices need. Plus, Bosch has shrunk both the MEMS die and the ASIC, which is also what they needed to do to meet price concessions to mass-market customers while still making a profit."
Together with its parent company Robert Bosch, Bosch-Sensortec had MEMS sales in excess of $370 million last year--more than any other MEMS chip maker, according to Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC). STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor ranked second and third in WTC's ranking. Bosch intends to keep its lead, too; for instance, it just invested in a new 8-inch fab in Reutlingen, Germany, where up to thousand wafers containing up to one million chips per day will start being produced by 2009.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Is There a 2nd Phase?
By Michael Orshan
Last week the Sematech building in Austin was sold to investors. The Sematech story is interesting and critical for those in fairly new application such as tiny components are.
During the mid 1980’s, Austin was known as a state capital and military town. Town political leaders, educators from the University of Texas and businesses got together and made a unique decision. They put funds aside to make Austin one of the national leaders in semiconductors. This lead to a series of public-private entities. Even though public private existed before, these guys pushed the concept to the limit. When the US government needed a site to investigate semiconductor manufacturing best practices, Sematech was born and Austin received the organization.
Sematech went on to create various international organizations, local for Texas organizations and R&D as well as manufacturing. However, for Austin this organization created their boom. Dell, Compaq, IBM and others flocked there. Austin was spinning off new companies as never seen before. The UofTexas was heavily involved as various professors created unique ways of joining spin offs and using the school as an incubator. As semiconductors matured, the spin offs began to create software firms. Today, Austin is less focused on semiconductors, more on software and is doing okay.
Recently, Sematech decided it needed to move into nanotechnology. The federal government support was less of what it was years ago. After a bidding war, Albany, NY was selected as the next site called Sematech North. Now Sematech is moving their as the management and various organizations are becoming headquartered there. Albany is and will become more and more of a strength area in Nanotech.
What about Austin? In the mid-1980’s they made a decision to grow through advanced technology and did. Big companies came and new ones were born. When the semiconductor business slowed down, so did Austin. Still, you figure that they would do whatever it took to keep Sematch and the next generation of innovation. They didn’t though. Hey, business models change, technology changes and maybe those are part of the reasons they didn’t keep Sematech. New York and Texas money must be just as big, so I find it hard to believe money was the issue.
Let’s keep an eye on both areas, Albany and Austin. My prediction is that Albany begins a renaissance and while Austin maintains there current status. Austin owns the gaming business, Dell and IBM are there and some of those startups grew up quite nicely thank you.
However, I have to believe that Austin should have kept Sematech. Maybe we should keep on eye on what happens with the new owners of the Sematch buildings there too.
Extra: On a sad note, I’d like to give my condolences to the family of Dr. Richard Ewing of Texas A&M. Dr. Ewing was a long time research leader and Vice President for Research at A&M. This is particularly sad because his heart attack was the result of some political shenanigans at Texas A&M that obviously have spun out of control with Dr. Ewing’s death.
Last week the Sematech building in Austin was sold to investors. The Sematech story is interesting and critical for those in fairly new application such as tiny components are.
During the mid 1980’s, Austin was known as a state capital and military town. Town political leaders, educators from the University of Texas and businesses got together and made a unique decision. They put funds aside to make Austin one of the national leaders in semiconductors. This lead to a series of public-private entities. Even though public private existed before, these guys pushed the concept to the limit. When the US government needed a site to investigate semiconductor manufacturing best practices, Sematech was born and Austin received the organization.
Sematech went on to create various international organizations, local for Texas organizations and R&D as well as manufacturing. However, for Austin this organization created their boom. Dell, Compaq, IBM and others flocked there. Austin was spinning off new companies as never seen before. The UofTexas was heavily involved as various professors created unique ways of joining spin offs and using the school as an incubator. As semiconductors matured, the spin offs began to create software firms. Today, Austin is less focused on semiconductors, more on software and is doing okay.
Recently, Sematech decided it needed to move into nanotechnology. The federal government support was less of what it was years ago. After a bidding war, Albany, NY was selected as the next site called Sematech North. Now Sematech is moving their as the management and various organizations are becoming headquartered there. Albany is and will become more and more of a strength area in Nanotech.
What about Austin? In the mid-1980’s they made a decision to grow through advanced technology and did. Big companies came and new ones were born. When the semiconductor business slowed down, so did Austin. Still, you figure that they would do whatever it took to keep Sematch and the next generation of innovation. They didn’t though. Hey, business models change, technology changes and maybe those are part of the reasons they didn’t keep Sematech. New York and Texas money must be just as big, so I find it hard to believe money was the issue.
Let’s keep an eye on both areas, Albany and Austin. My prediction is that Albany begins a renaissance and while Austin maintains there current status. Austin owns the gaming business, Dell and IBM are there and some of those startups grew up quite nicely thank you.
However, I have to believe that Austin should have kept Sematech. Maybe we should keep on eye on what happens with the new owners of the Sematch buildings there too.
Extra: On a sad note, I’d like to give my condolences to the family of Dr. Richard Ewing of Texas A&M. Dr. Ewing was a long time research leader and Vice President for Research at A&M. This is particularly sad because his heart attack was the result of some political shenanigans at Texas A&M that obviously have spun out of control with Dr. Ewing’s death.
Consortium enlists MEMS packaging expertise
The MEAD consortium will develop microelectromechanical systems technology for the defence industry in a MoD-backed project, with GBP 3.2 million of funding over three years
C-Mac MicroTechnology has been selected as a partner in the MEMS Application for Defence (MEAD) consortium, led by Qinetiq. The MEAD consortium will develop microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology for the defence industry in a MoD-backed project, with GBP 3.2 million of funding over three years.
C-Mac will use its MEMS packaging expertise to provide the MEAD consortium with high reliability hermetic enclosures for the delicate MEMS devices, protecting them from environmental contamination and ensuring their integrity in the harsh environments in which they will operate.
C-MAC is able to deliver robust, precision electronic modules, which are reliable under the most severe conditions experienced by electronic devices in defence applications.
The MEAD consortium will bring together world-class organisations spanning systems integration and MEMS device supply and including key groups from the world of academia and research.
Initially, the MEAD consortium will roadmap the technology, explore exploitation routes and investigate novel MEMS approaches for use in key defence application areas.
Indro Mukerjee, CEO of C-Mac MicroTechnology, commented: 'C-Mac has worked in the Defence sector and with Qinetiq for several years and we have a thorough understanding of their stringent technical and operational requirements'.
'MEMS technology is experiencing an exciting and progressive stage of evolution, and being invited to join the MEAD consortium is a reflection of the world-class expertise and knowledge that C-Mac engineers can deliver in this area'.
• C-Mac Micro Technology: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
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C-Mac MicroTechnology has been selected as a partner in the MEMS Application for Defence (MEAD) consortium, led by Qinetiq. The MEAD consortium will develop microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology for the defence industry in a MoD-backed project, with GBP 3.2 million of funding over three years.
C-Mac will use its MEMS packaging expertise to provide the MEAD consortium with high reliability hermetic enclosures for the delicate MEMS devices, protecting them from environmental contamination and ensuring their integrity in the harsh environments in which they will operate.
C-MAC is able to deliver robust, precision electronic modules, which are reliable under the most severe conditions experienced by electronic devices in defence applications.
The MEAD consortium will bring together world-class organisations spanning systems integration and MEMS device supply and including key groups from the world of academia and research.
Initially, the MEAD consortium will roadmap the technology, explore exploitation routes and investigate novel MEMS approaches for use in key defence application areas.
Indro Mukerjee, CEO of C-Mac MicroTechnology, commented: 'C-Mac has worked in the Defence sector and with Qinetiq for several years and we have a thorough understanding of their stringent technical and operational requirements'.
'MEMS technology is experiencing an exciting and progressive stage of evolution, and being invited to join the MEAD consortium is a reflection of the world-class expertise and knowledge that C-Mac engineers can deliver in this area'.
• C-Mac Micro Technology: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
New Micro-technology Will Need To Consider Fatigue In Silicon Crystals
ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2007) — Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a mechanical fatigue process that eventually leads to cracks and breakdown in bulk silicon crystals -- a phenomenon that's particularly interesting because it long has been thought not to exist. Their recently published* results have important implications for the design of new silicon-based micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices that have been proposed for a wide variety of uses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
Matter & Energy
Materials Science
Electronics
Civil Engineering
Computers & Math
Communications
Mobile Computing
Internet
Reference
Nanowire
Tensile strength
Metallurgy
Silicon
Silicon--the backbone of the semiconductor industry--is one the world's most heavily studied materials, and it has long been believed to be immune to fatigue from cyclic stresses because of the nature of its crystal structure and chemical bonds. And indeed, conventional tests have validated this. Recent research into silicon MEMS devices, however, has revealed that these microscopic systems that incorporate tiny gears, vibrating reeds and other mechanical features do seem to develop stress-induced cracks that can lead to failure.
Why this happens at the microscopic scale is a matter of debate. One school of thought holds that the effect is purely mechanical, due to friction, and the other argues that it essentially is caused by corrosion--a chemical effect. Because the effect has only been noticed at submicrometer scales, it has been difficult to determine which theory is correct.
A material's resistance to cracking--referred to as "toughness" by materials scientists--is measured customarily by taking a sample of the material, slightly notching one edge, and pulling on the ends repetitively to see if the tensile stress causes the notch to grow into a crack. Bulk silicon always has passed this test. But, argued the NIST team, in real-world MEMS devices the stresses are likely to be much more complicated.
To test this, they used an alternate method: pressing the top of test crystals with tiny tungsten-carbide spheres about 3 mm in diameter at pressures below the silicon's breaking point. Simply pressing down hard on the crystal for days at a time caused no detectable cracks--arguing against the corrosion theory. On the other hand, using half the pressure but cycling the test hundreds of thousands of times revealed a gradually increasing pattern of surface damage at the indentation site--clear indication of mechanical fatigue.
The NIST team, which included a researcher from the University of Extremadura in Spain, theorizes that the critical element in their experiments is the addition of shear stress (causing the crystal planes to slide against each other), a component missing in conventional tensile strength tests but not uncommon in real-world applications.
The NIST experiments demonstrated fatigue effects in silicon at the comparatively large scale of hundred of micrometers. The next step is to determine if the same mechanisms operate at the submicrometer level.
* S. Bhowmick, J.J. Meléndez-Martínez and B.R. Lawn. Bulk silicon is susceptible to fatigue. Applied Physics Letters 91, 201902. Published online 13 November 2007.
Adapted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
Matter & Energy
Materials Science
Electronics
Civil Engineering
Computers & Math
Communications
Mobile Computing
Internet
Reference
Nanowire
Tensile strength
Metallurgy
Silicon
Silicon--the backbone of the semiconductor industry--is one the world's most heavily studied materials, and it has long been believed to be immune to fatigue from cyclic stresses because of the nature of its crystal structure and chemical bonds. And indeed, conventional tests have validated this. Recent research into silicon MEMS devices, however, has revealed that these microscopic systems that incorporate tiny gears, vibrating reeds and other mechanical features do seem to develop stress-induced cracks that can lead to failure.
Why this happens at the microscopic scale is a matter of debate. One school of thought holds that the effect is purely mechanical, due to friction, and the other argues that it essentially is caused by corrosion--a chemical effect. Because the effect has only been noticed at submicrometer scales, it has been difficult to determine which theory is correct.
A material's resistance to cracking--referred to as "toughness" by materials scientists--is measured customarily by taking a sample of the material, slightly notching one edge, and pulling on the ends repetitively to see if the tensile stress causes the notch to grow into a crack. Bulk silicon always has passed this test. But, argued the NIST team, in real-world MEMS devices the stresses are likely to be much more complicated.
To test this, they used an alternate method: pressing the top of test crystals with tiny tungsten-carbide spheres about 3 mm in diameter at pressures below the silicon's breaking point. Simply pressing down hard on the crystal for days at a time caused no detectable cracks--arguing against the corrosion theory. On the other hand, using half the pressure but cycling the test hundreds of thousands of times revealed a gradually increasing pattern of surface damage at the indentation site--clear indication of mechanical fatigue.
The NIST team, which included a researcher from the University of Extremadura in Spain, theorizes that the critical element in their experiments is the addition of shear stress (causing the crystal planes to slide against each other), a component missing in conventional tensile strength tests but not uncommon in real-world applications.
The NIST experiments demonstrated fatigue effects in silicon at the comparatively large scale of hundred of micrometers. The next step is to determine if the same mechanisms operate at the submicrometer level.
* S. Bhowmick, J.J. Meléndez-Martínez and B.R. Lawn. Bulk silicon is susceptible to fatigue. Applied Physics Letters 91, 201902. Published online 13 November 2007.
Adapted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
World's First Nanoradio Could Lead to Subcellular Remote-Control Interfaces
By Emmet Cole 11.01.07 | 5:30 PM
Less than two weeks after a team of scientists created a nanoscale radio component, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have gone one better -- announcing the creation of the world's first complete nanoradio.
The breakthrough nanoradio consists of a single carbon-nanotube molecule that serves simultaneously as all the essential components of a radio -- antenna, tunable band-pass filter, amplifier and demodulator. Physicist Alex Zettl led the development team, and graduate student Kenneth Jensen built the radio.
"I'm totally amazed that it works so well," says Zettl. "Making individual components are good breakthroughs, but the holy grail was putting it all together. So we're ecstatic that we were able to achieve that full integration."
The radio opens the possibility of creating radio-controlled interfaces on the subcellular scale, which may have applications in the areas of medical and sensor technology.
Nanoelectronic systems are considered crucial to the continued miniaturization of electronic devices, and it's becoming a hot research and investment arena. Two weeks ago, a team at the University of California at Irvine announced the development of a nanoscale demodulator, an essential component of a radio.
The number of consumer products using nanotechnology -- from the iPhone to home pregnancy testing kits -- has soared from 212 to well over 500, according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies' online inventory of manufacturer-identified nanotech goods in March 2006.
The nanoradio is less than one micron long and only 10 nanometers wide -- or one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair -- making it the smallest radio ever created.
The researchers' paper was published at the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters website.
The first transmission received by the nanoradio was an FM broadcast of Eric Clapton's "Layla." (The lab has posted video of that moment.) The Clapton classic was quickly followed by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and Handel's Largo from the opera Xerxes -- the first piece of music broadcast by radio, on Dec. 24, 1906.
The nanoradio's amplifier operates on the same principles as vacuum-tube radios from the 1940s and early '50s, says Zettl.
"We've come full circle. We're using the old vacuum-tube principle of having electrons jump off the tip of the nanotube onto another electrode, rather than the conventional solid-state transistor principle," says Zettl.
The electronic properties of this electron-emitting nanotube function as the radio's demodulator -- making a complete radio possible within a single molecule.
The audio quality "can be very good," says Zettl, but if you listen closely, some unique effects of the radio's tiny size can be heard: an old-fashioned "scratchiness" that occurs because the device is working in the quantum regime.
"The amazing thing is that since we have such a sensitive nanoscale system, individual atoms jumping on and off the nanotube cause a perturbation that you can hear," says Zettl. He notes that this effect can be eliminated through the use of a better vacuum.
Because of its small size, the nanoradio could be inserted into a living human cell, opening up the possibility of exciting medical applications for the technology, says Jillian M. Buriak, an expert in nanotechnology at the University of Alberta's chemistry department.
"These carbon nanotubes are so small that we can have a radio-controlled interface with something that is on the same length scale as the basic submachinery of the cell and the basic workings of life," says Buriak.
The nanoradio could be used to see inside cells in real time and under normal conditions, instead of current techniques, which involve "exploding the cells and going in and looking at the remnants," says Buriak.
"This device could allow you to spy on the cell and do things inside the cell at the molecular level, which is really neat," says Buriak, who is currently researching how to enable interactions between individual human neurons and computer chips.
The Lawrence Lab team is currently working on ways to integrate the radio with biological systems, says Zettl.
"We have colleagues here in Berkeley who are experts in cell biology, and aspects of biological interfaces to nano-electromechanical structures, so we're exploring the different possibilities of mating this radio with other systems to take advantage of its size and power," says Zettl.
Less than two weeks after a team of scientists created a nanoscale radio component, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have gone one better -- announcing the creation of the world's first complete nanoradio.
The breakthrough nanoradio consists of a single carbon-nanotube molecule that serves simultaneously as all the essential components of a radio -- antenna, tunable band-pass filter, amplifier and demodulator. Physicist Alex Zettl led the development team, and graduate student Kenneth Jensen built the radio.
"I'm totally amazed that it works so well," says Zettl. "Making individual components are good breakthroughs, but the holy grail was putting it all together. So we're ecstatic that we were able to achieve that full integration."
The radio opens the possibility of creating radio-controlled interfaces on the subcellular scale, which may have applications in the areas of medical and sensor technology.
Nanoelectronic systems are considered crucial to the continued miniaturization of electronic devices, and it's becoming a hot research and investment arena. Two weeks ago, a team at the University of California at Irvine announced the development of a nanoscale demodulator, an essential component of a radio.
The number of consumer products using nanotechnology -- from the iPhone to home pregnancy testing kits -- has soared from 212 to well over 500, according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies' online inventory of manufacturer-identified nanotech goods in March 2006.
The nanoradio is less than one micron long and only 10 nanometers wide -- or one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair -- making it the smallest radio ever created.
The researchers' paper was published at the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters website.
The first transmission received by the nanoradio was an FM broadcast of Eric Clapton's "Layla." (The lab has posted video of that moment.) The Clapton classic was quickly followed by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and Handel's Largo from the opera Xerxes -- the first piece of music broadcast by radio, on Dec. 24, 1906.
The nanoradio's amplifier operates on the same principles as vacuum-tube radios from the 1940s and early '50s, says Zettl.
"We've come full circle. We're using the old vacuum-tube principle of having electrons jump off the tip of the nanotube onto another electrode, rather than the conventional solid-state transistor principle," says Zettl.
The electronic properties of this electron-emitting nanotube function as the radio's demodulator -- making a complete radio possible within a single molecule.
The audio quality "can be very good," says Zettl, but if you listen closely, some unique effects of the radio's tiny size can be heard: an old-fashioned "scratchiness" that occurs because the device is working in the quantum regime.
"The amazing thing is that since we have such a sensitive nanoscale system, individual atoms jumping on and off the nanotube cause a perturbation that you can hear," says Zettl. He notes that this effect can be eliminated through the use of a better vacuum.
Because of its small size, the nanoradio could be inserted into a living human cell, opening up the possibility of exciting medical applications for the technology, says Jillian M. Buriak, an expert in nanotechnology at the University of Alberta's chemistry department.
"These carbon nanotubes are so small that we can have a radio-controlled interface with something that is on the same length scale as the basic submachinery of the cell and the basic workings of life," says Buriak.
The nanoradio could be used to see inside cells in real time and under normal conditions, instead of current techniques, which involve "exploding the cells and going in and looking at the remnants," says Buriak.
"This device could allow you to spy on the cell and do things inside the cell at the molecular level, which is really neat," says Buriak, who is currently researching how to enable interactions between individual human neurons and computer chips.
The Lawrence Lab team is currently working on ways to integrate the radio with biological systems, says Zettl.
"We have colleagues here in Berkeley who are experts in cell biology, and aspects of biological interfaces to nano-electromechanical structures, so we're exploring the different possibilities of mating this radio with other systems to take advantage of its size and power," says Zettl.
Saudi Arabia announces plans for nanotech institute
December 3, 2007 -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has approved a proposal to create a nanotechnology institute, which will be named after him, at a facility in Riyadh.
The institute will serve as an advanced technology research center for King Saud University.
"The future of the country depends on its youth, which in turn depends on human resources development," said Prince Naif in announcing King Abdullah's initiative. "The scientific community must exert more effort to train and qualify the Saudi youth."
The institute will serve as an advanced technology research center for King Saud University.
"The future of the country depends on its youth, which in turn depends on human resources development," said Prince Naif in announcing King Abdullah's initiative. "The scientific community must exert more effort to train and qualify the Saudi youth."
Australian nanotech institute, Dow announce alliance
November 30, 2007 -- The University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and The Dow Chemical Company have announced a research alliance that will focus on two key areas: biomimicry and developing new manufacturing systems using biofeedstocks.
"Escalating oil costs and concerns about carbon dioxide emissions make it imperative to develop new manufacturing processes based on renewable substrates rather than diminishing fossil fuels," Peter Gray, AIBN's director, said in a news release.
"Scientific advances in the biosciences, have enabled researchers to genetically reprogram bacteria to produce the chemical building blocks of the future.
Andrew Liveris, Dow's chairman and CEO, said going back to nature was a further step forward in Dow's sustainable chemistry initiative.
"This alliance will help Dow to find more resource efficient ways to deliver even better products to markets and is a marvelous example of how the human element can work with nature to drive strategic growth at a company like Dow."
AIBN has more than 300 researchers housed in a new building complemented by an extensive suite of facilities.
"Escalating oil costs and concerns about carbon dioxide emissions make it imperative to develop new manufacturing processes based on renewable substrates rather than diminishing fossil fuels," Peter Gray, AIBN's director, said in a news release.
"Scientific advances in the biosciences, have enabled researchers to genetically reprogram bacteria to produce the chemical building blocks of the future.
Andrew Liveris, Dow's chairman and CEO, said going back to nature was a further step forward in Dow's sustainable chemistry initiative.
"This alliance will help Dow to find more resource efficient ways to deliver even better products to markets and is a marvelous example of how the human element can work with nature to drive strategic growth at a company like Dow."
AIBN has more than 300 researchers housed in a new building complemented by an extensive suite of facilities.
Nano-boric acid makes motor oil more slippery
ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 3, 2007) — One key to saving the environment, improving our economy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil might just be sitting in your mother's medicine cabinet.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have begun to combine infinitesimal particles of boric acid — known primarily as a mild antiseptic and eye cleanser — with traditional motor oils in order to improve their lubricity and by doing so increase energy efficiency.
Ali Erdemir, senior scientist in Argonne's Energy Systems Division, has spent nearly 20 years investigating the lubricious properties of boric acid. In 1991, he received an R&D 100 award — widely considered the "Oscar of technology" — for showing that microscopic particles of boric acid could dramatically reduce friction between automobile engine parts. Metals covered with a boric acid film exhibited coefficients of friction lower than that of Teflon, making Erdemir's films the slickest solids in existence at that time.
"Ali was looking at large, micron-sized, particles," said George Fenske, who works alongside Erdemir at Argonne. "He was just sprinkling boric acid onto surfaces."
But driven by a conviction that he could fashion boric acid into an even better lubricant, Erdemir continued to chase the ultimate frontier: a perfectly frictionless material. Glimpsing the potential of nanotechnology, Erdemir went smaller — 10 times smaller — and was astonished by the behavior of much thinner boric acid films. "If you can produce or manufacture boric acid at the nanoscale, its properties become even more fantastic," he said.
Reducing the size of the particles to as tiny as 50 nanometers in diameter — less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair — solved a number of old problems and opened up a number of new possibilities, Erdemir said. In previous tests, his team had combined the larger boric acid particles with pure poly-alpha-olefin, the principal ingredient in many synthetic motor oils. While these larger particles dramatically improved the lubricity of the pure oil, within a few weeks gravity had started to separate the mixture. By using smaller particles, Erdemir created a stable suspension of boric acid in the motor oil.
In laboratory tests, these new boric acid suspensions have reduced by as much as two-thirds the energy lost through friction as heat. The implications for fuel economy are not hard to imagine, Erdemir said. "You're easily talking about a four or five percent reduction in fuel consumption," he said. "In a given day, we consume so many millions of barrels of oil, and if you can reduce that number by even one percent, that will have a huge economic impact."
Argonne is currently in talks with materials and lubricant manufacturers to bring boric acid technology to market, Erdemir said. While these new additives need to pass a battery of environmental and safety tests, they will probably be available within two years.
In his first experiments with boric acid, Erdemir demonstrated that the compound not only proved an effective lubricant but was also every industrial technologist's dream: It came from naturally abundant minerals, was cheap to manufacture, and posed no health hazards or environmental threats.
Boric acid owes its lubricious properties to its unique natural structure. The compound consists of a stack of crystallized layers in which the atoms tightly adhere to each other. However, these layers stack themselves relatively far apart, so that the intermolecular bonds — called van der Waals forces — are comparatively weak. When stressed, the compound's layers smear and slide over one another easily, like a strewn deck of playing cards. The strong bonding within each layer prevents direct contact between sliding parts, lowering friction and minimizing wear.
Until recently, most of Erdemir's work in boric acid lubrication had been restricted to motor oils, principally because of the relative bulk of the larger particles. The move to the nanoscale, however, has opened up other possible uses of the chemical. Through a simple chemical reaction, nano-boric acid can be transformed into a liquid relative of boric acid that has shown potential to increase fuel lubricity.
Using this liquid analog of solid boric acid as a fuel additive on a large scale could greatly benefit the environment, both because it would help to increase fuel efficiency and because it would replace existing fuel lubricants that are potentially harmful to the environment, Erdemir said. By themselves, most fuels — especially diesels — contain some sulfur and other special chemical additives to boost lubricity. When burned, however, some of these additives along with sulfur may cause harmful emissions and acid rain. However, the lack of a suitable alternative complicates efforts to cut sulfur content.
The substitution of liquid boric acid for sulfur-containing additives preserves the health of the car as well as that of the environment. Sulfur exhaust gradually coats the surface of a car's catalytic converter, the part that helps to reduce the toxicity of a car's emissions. Eventually, the converter becomes so choked with sulfur that it is no longer able to process any more exhaust.
Even though he has just begun to unleash the potential of boric acid, Erdemir believes that nanoscale synthetic compounds may prove to be even more effective lubricants. "The next step is to use the basic knowledge that we have gained out of this particular compound to come up with more exotic compounds that will work even better," he said. — Jared Sagoff
For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have begun to combine infinitesimal particles of boric acid — known primarily as a mild antiseptic and eye cleanser — with traditional motor oils in order to improve their lubricity and by doing so increase energy efficiency.
Ali Erdemir, senior scientist in Argonne's Energy Systems Division, has spent nearly 20 years investigating the lubricious properties of boric acid. In 1991, he received an R&D 100 award — widely considered the "Oscar of technology" — for showing that microscopic particles of boric acid could dramatically reduce friction between automobile engine parts. Metals covered with a boric acid film exhibited coefficients of friction lower than that of Teflon, making Erdemir's films the slickest solids in existence at that time.
"Ali was looking at large, micron-sized, particles," said George Fenske, who works alongside Erdemir at Argonne. "He was just sprinkling boric acid onto surfaces."
But driven by a conviction that he could fashion boric acid into an even better lubricant, Erdemir continued to chase the ultimate frontier: a perfectly frictionless material. Glimpsing the potential of nanotechnology, Erdemir went smaller — 10 times smaller — and was astonished by the behavior of much thinner boric acid films. "If you can produce or manufacture boric acid at the nanoscale, its properties become even more fantastic," he said.
Reducing the size of the particles to as tiny as 50 nanometers in diameter — less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair — solved a number of old problems and opened up a number of new possibilities, Erdemir said. In previous tests, his team had combined the larger boric acid particles with pure poly-alpha-olefin, the principal ingredient in many synthetic motor oils. While these larger particles dramatically improved the lubricity of the pure oil, within a few weeks gravity had started to separate the mixture. By using smaller particles, Erdemir created a stable suspension of boric acid in the motor oil.
In laboratory tests, these new boric acid suspensions have reduced by as much as two-thirds the energy lost through friction as heat. The implications for fuel economy are not hard to imagine, Erdemir said. "You're easily talking about a four or five percent reduction in fuel consumption," he said. "In a given day, we consume so many millions of barrels of oil, and if you can reduce that number by even one percent, that will have a huge economic impact."
Argonne is currently in talks with materials and lubricant manufacturers to bring boric acid technology to market, Erdemir said. While these new additives need to pass a battery of environmental and safety tests, they will probably be available within two years.
In his first experiments with boric acid, Erdemir demonstrated that the compound not only proved an effective lubricant but was also every industrial technologist's dream: It came from naturally abundant minerals, was cheap to manufacture, and posed no health hazards or environmental threats.
Boric acid owes its lubricious properties to its unique natural structure. The compound consists of a stack of crystallized layers in which the atoms tightly adhere to each other. However, these layers stack themselves relatively far apart, so that the intermolecular bonds — called van der Waals forces — are comparatively weak. When stressed, the compound's layers smear and slide over one another easily, like a strewn deck of playing cards. The strong bonding within each layer prevents direct contact between sliding parts, lowering friction and minimizing wear.
Until recently, most of Erdemir's work in boric acid lubrication had been restricted to motor oils, principally because of the relative bulk of the larger particles. The move to the nanoscale, however, has opened up other possible uses of the chemical. Through a simple chemical reaction, nano-boric acid can be transformed into a liquid relative of boric acid that has shown potential to increase fuel lubricity.
Using this liquid analog of solid boric acid as a fuel additive on a large scale could greatly benefit the environment, both because it would help to increase fuel efficiency and because it would replace existing fuel lubricants that are potentially harmful to the environment, Erdemir said. By themselves, most fuels — especially diesels — contain some sulfur and other special chemical additives to boost lubricity. When burned, however, some of these additives along with sulfur may cause harmful emissions and acid rain. However, the lack of a suitable alternative complicates efforts to cut sulfur content.
The substitution of liquid boric acid for sulfur-containing additives preserves the health of the car as well as that of the environment. Sulfur exhaust gradually coats the surface of a car's catalytic converter, the part that helps to reduce the toxicity of a car's emissions. Eventually, the converter becomes so choked with sulfur that it is no longer able to process any more exhaust.
Even though he has just begun to unleash the potential of boric acid, Erdemir believes that nanoscale synthetic compounds may prove to be even more effective lubricants. "The next step is to use the basic knowledge that we have gained out of this particular compound to come up with more exotic compounds that will work even better," he said. — Jared Sagoff
For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Hot List
by Michael Orshan
This is probably a different hot list than you were thinking. I just got back from Mexico. I got off the plane through a tarmac stairway. I looked at the people working on the gas lines, baggage, and traffic. They all had uniforms on. Today, in the US they kind of have uniforms on. These people were proud of the services they were providing and you could see it they way the walked, did their jobs and talked to each other.
What does this have to do with Microsystems? Well, it is my opinion that while micro and nanotechnologies are growing, many of the projects are within the hands of the science community. This community has never been known for their customer care techniques. I believe that might be one of the factors that are slowing the adaptation of tiny components. Am I telling tales out of school here? Probably not, uh?
Customer care is the act of informing clients of their risks, giving them their best solutions and implementing these. It also includes an open mind and the realization that there might be options you haven’t considered and the client may want to ask about these. It also includes investigating their requests even if these seem outside of the box. Who knows?
Okay, well I’m writing these short articles as reminders to people. I have absolutely no expectation of changing anyone, but if I can affect one day and one interaction, I’m okay with that.
So, to all the scientists out there, I’ll offer a simple customer care solution that has always worked for me. I call this the Hot List. Every week I put together a Hot List for every client. On this list are three, never more nor less, of things to be done during the week. I also give this list to the client because often they need to do something as well. I find this lowers project risk significantly, brings the client closer to the project and finishes the job on time.
Does anyone out there have any other customer care suggestions?
This is probably a different hot list than you were thinking. I just got back from Mexico. I got off the plane through a tarmac stairway. I looked at the people working on the gas lines, baggage, and traffic. They all had uniforms on. Today, in the US they kind of have uniforms on. These people were proud of the services they were providing and you could see it they way the walked, did their jobs and talked to each other.
What does this have to do with Microsystems? Well, it is my opinion that while micro and nanotechnologies are growing, many of the projects are within the hands of the science community. This community has never been known for their customer care techniques. I believe that might be one of the factors that are slowing the adaptation of tiny components. Am I telling tales out of school here? Probably not, uh?
Customer care is the act of informing clients of their risks, giving them their best solutions and implementing these. It also includes an open mind and the realization that there might be options you haven’t considered and the client may want to ask about these. It also includes investigating their requests even if these seem outside of the box. Who knows?
Okay, well I’m writing these short articles as reminders to people. I have absolutely no expectation of changing anyone, but if I can affect one day and one interaction, I’m okay with that.
So, to all the scientists out there, I’ll offer a simple customer care solution that has always worked for me. I call this the Hot List. Every week I put together a Hot List for every client. On this list are three, never more nor less, of things to be done during the week. I also give this list to the client because often they need to do something as well. I find this lowers project risk significantly, brings the client closer to the project and finishes the job on time.
Does anyone out there have any other customer care suggestions?
Monday, December 3, 2007
An Environmentally Friendly Plastic Shopping Bag? Now a Reality Thanks to Nanotechnology
Nov 23, 2007
The Japanese convenience store am/pm Japan Co. is using plastic shopping bags in its Toyko area stores that are thinner but just as strong as the standard plastic market bag. The innovative bags are made of advanced polyethylene developed by Itrix Corporation, which uses nanotechnology to disperse a strengthening agent, as well as a substance that absorbs oxygen, ensuring a greater percentage of the bag ends up as ash versus emitting CO2 when destroyed. The store calculates their eco-friendly plastic bags will help lower carbon dioxide emissions by 3,000 tons annually. Am/pm Japan Co. plans to use these bags in all its 1,300 stores by next spring.
The Japanese convenience store am/pm Japan Co. is using plastic shopping bags in its Toyko area stores that are thinner but just as strong as the standard plastic market bag. The innovative bags are made of advanced polyethylene developed by Itrix Corporation, which uses nanotechnology to disperse a strengthening agent, as well as a substance that absorbs oxygen, ensuring a greater percentage of the bag ends up as ash versus emitting CO2 when destroyed. The store calculates their eco-friendly plastic bags will help lower carbon dioxide emissions by 3,000 tons annually. Am/pm Japan Co. plans to use these bags in all its 1,300 stores by next spring.
2011 MEMS Market to Hit $10B
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 9/11/2007 5:30:00 AM
The microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market will hit $10B by 2011, doubling from its estimated 2005 revenues of $5B, said Semiconductor Partners (Phoenix), a market research and consulting firm.
The automotive MEMS market will show robust growth as the number of MEMS devices per vehicle increases from an average of 40 per mid-range vehicle to ~60 MEMS for the same class of vehicle in 2011, said Morry Marshall, a partner at the firm.
The potential for growth in the consumer, communication and portable markets is also significant. Microphones and speakers, clock oscillators, handheld controls for gaming and cell phones, hard disk drives, RF switches and ink-jet print heads all represent high growth opportunities.
“Compared to automotive applications, the design cycles for these other markets are not as long,” Marshall said, allowing a faster return on investment (ROI). Also, the MEMS suppliers to the consumer and communications applications are not as well entrenched, and do not have the environmental and regulatory requirements of the auto industry. “Consumer and communications markets provide growth opportunities for new, emerging entrants to the MEMS market.”
The microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market will hit $10B by 2011, doubling from its estimated 2005 revenues of $5B, said Semiconductor Partners (Phoenix), a market research and consulting firm.
The automotive MEMS market will show robust growth as the number of MEMS devices per vehicle increases from an average of 40 per mid-range vehicle to ~60 MEMS for the same class of vehicle in 2011, said Morry Marshall, a partner at the firm.
The potential for growth in the consumer, communication and portable markets is also significant. Microphones and speakers, clock oscillators, handheld controls for gaming and cell phones, hard disk drives, RF switches and ink-jet print heads all represent high growth opportunities.
“Compared to automotive applications, the design cycles for these other markets are not as long,” Marshall said, allowing a faster return on investment (ROI). Also, the MEMS suppliers to the consumer and communications applications are not as well entrenched, and do not have the environmental and regulatory requirements of the auto industry. “Consumer and communications markets provide growth opportunities for new, emerging entrants to the MEMS market.”
Bright Outlook for MEMS in Consumer Electronics
From: Vol. 50 l No. 5 | May 2007 | Pg.147
by Microwave Journal Staff
Nearly all major categories of MEMS have seen, or may soon see, applications in consumer products, reports In-Stat. As a result, the worldwide MEMS market in consumer electronics will grow from $727 M in 2006 to over $1 B by 2009, the high-tech market research firm says.
MEMS will expand to a broad array of consumer applications including game consoles, portable consumer electronics devices (such as digital camcorders) and GPS devices. “In the longer term, MEMS memory, MEMS fuel cells and other types of MEMS devices could also join the list,” says Steve Cullen, In-Stat analyst.
“However, these technologies are expected to initially find usage in other product areas that are less cost sensitive, with application in consumer electronics products unlikely until after 2010.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
• Pressure sensors have the greatest potential in consumer electronics in the short-term, followed by
• At least two firms are introducing MEMS resonators and oscillators with the intention of taking a piece of the long established crystal market.
• MEMS microphones have been a recent success because of rapid adoption in the mobile handset market, where their small size, ease of handling and competitive price has resulted in double-digit market share.
by Microwave Journal Staff
Nearly all major categories of MEMS have seen, or may soon see, applications in consumer products, reports In-Stat. As a result, the worldwide MEMS market in consumer electronics will grow from $727 M in 2006 to over $1 B by 2009, the high-tech market research firm says.
MEMS will expand to a broad array of consumer applications including game consoles, portable consumer electronics devices (such as digital camcorders) and GPS devices. “In the longer term, MEMS memory, MEMS fuel cells and other types of MEMS devices could also join the list,” says Steve Cullen, In-Stat analyst.
“However, these technologies are expected to initially find usage in other product areas that are less cost sensitive, with application in consumer electronics products unlikely until after 2010.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
• Pressure sensors have the greatest potential in consumer electronics in the short-term, followed by
• At least two firms are introducing MEMS resonators and oscillators with the intention of taking a piece of the long established crystal market.
• MEMS microphones have been a recent success because of rapid adoption in the mobile handset market, where their small size, ease of handling and competitive price has resulted in double-digit market share.
Cornell/BU technique speeds atomic microscopy 100X
November 12, 2007 -- Using an existing technique in a novel way, Cornell physicist Keith Schwab and colleagues at Cornell and Boston University have made the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) -- which can image individual atoms on a surface -- at least 100 times faster.
The simple adaptation, based on a method of measurement currently used in nano-electronics, could also give STMs significant new capabilities -- including the ability to sense temperatures in spots as small as a single atom, and to detect changes in position as tiny as 0.00000000000001 meters: a distance 30,000 times smaller than the diameter of an atom.
The finding is described in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Nature.
The STM uses quantum tunneling, or the ability of electrons to "tunnel" across a barrier, to detect changes in the distance between a needlelike probe and a conducting surface.) By measuring changes in current as electrons tunnel between the sample and the probe, scientists can construct a map of the surface topology.
By adding an external source of radio frequency (RF) waves and sending a wave into the STM through a simple network, the researchers showed that it's possible to detect the resistance at the tunneling junction -- and hence the distance between the probe and sample surface -- based on the characteristics of the wave that reflects back to the source.
The technique, called reflectometry, uses the standard cables as paths for high-frequency waves, which aren't slowed down by the cables' capacitance.
The simple adaptation, based on a method of measurement currently used in nano-electronics, could also give STMs significant new capabilities -- including the ability to sense temperatures in spots as small as a single atom, and to detect changes in position as tiny as 0.00000000000001 meters: a distance 30,000 times smaller than the diameter of an atom.
The finding is described in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Nature.
The STM uses quantum tunneling, or the ability of electrons to "tunnel" across a barrier, to detect changes in the distance between a needlelike probe and a conducting surface.) By measuring changes in current as electrons tunnel between the sample and the probe, scientists can construct a map of the surface topology.
By adding an external source of radio frequency (RF) waves and sending a wave into the STM through a simple network, the researchers showed that it's possible to detect the resistance at the tunneling junction -- and hence the distance between the probe and sample surface -- based on the characteristics of the wave that reflects back to the source.
The technique, called reflectometry, uses the standard cables as paths for high-frequency waves, which aren't slowed down by the cables' capacitance.
Mass market makes a MEMS move
R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
November 20, 2007 (11:32 AM EST)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) penetrated the mass market two decades ago, when they enabled air bags to trigger fast enough to catch passengers before they hit the steering wheel or windshield. MEMS chips gained a major business-market design-win a decade ago, when they began to be used to fabricate the high-precision ink-jet print-heads that displaced impact printers.
Now, MEMS chips are entering the consumer-electronics mainstream with the same invigorating effect. Most recently, we're seeing MEMS technology being used in Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone, and this may just be the beginning. The real volume customers will be the mainstream consumer-electronics makers adding MEMS chips to their ubiquitous devices. "We are at the edge of a mass market--today's MEMS applications are just the early adopters," said Bosch-Sensortec general manager and chief executive officer Frank Melzer. "The true mass-market adoption of MEMS will come when designers understand how a single MEMS sensor can have multiple uses in a single device, and when they learn how to use multiple sensors together to solve tough problems."
Bosch-Sensortec is the CE division of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest MEMS chip maker, which spun off its consumer electronics division in 2005. Now, Bosch-Sensortec has seven MEMS chips available for consumer applications--two pressure sensors for altimeters and navigation; two gyroscopes for image-stabilization applications; and three accelerometers, including a second-generation three-axis unit, the SMB380, which was recently dissected by Chipworks (Ottawa, Canada).
"Bosch's decision to spin-out its Sensortec division, dedicated to consumer electronics, appears to be paying off," said St. John Dixon-Warren, head of Chipworks Technical Intelligence Process Engineering team. "When we opened their new digital accelerometer, the SMD380, we found the MEMS die next to the ASIC instead of on top of it like before--that's how they made it thinner, which is what consumer devices need. Plus, Bosch has shrunk both the MEMS die and the ASIC, which is also what they needed to do to meet price concessions to mass-market customers while still making a profit."
Together with its parent company Robert Bosch, Bosch-Sensortec had MEMS sales in excess of $370 million last year--more than any other MEMS chip maker, according to Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC). STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor ranked second and third in WTC's ranking. Bosch intends to keep its lead, too; for instance, it just invested in a new 8-inch fab in Reutlingen, Germany, where up to thousand wafers containing up to one million chips per day will start being produced by 2009.
The consumer-device makers buying all those chips, according to Melzer, are telling Bosch-Sensortec that they want reference designs showing how to utilize MEMS chips in multiple ways. For instance, cell phones are predicted to consume as many as 10 billion MEMS chips by 2010, according to Philippe Kahn, founder of Fullpower Technologies Inc. (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Cell phones will use accelerometers to perform user-interface duties, such as picking-up the phone by shaking it, as well as to perform secondary tasks, such as extending battery life with intelligent power management that turns off the cell phone's display when its laid face down.
Beyond using a single MEMS chip for multiple tasks is using multiple sensor chips for a single task. Here, STMicroelectronics agrees with Bosch-Sensortec, according to Jay Esfandyari, MEMS market development manager at STMicroelectronics. As an example, Esfandyari has recently been demonstrating a reference design for an electronic compass that compensates for tilt using a three-axis accelerometer. Normally, a magnetometer chip requires that you keep it flat to read-out a compass heading correctly, but an accelerometer can sense orientation and compensate. STMicroelectronics' reference design shows the compensating compass heading in bold, with a lighter indicator showing how much the compass would be off if it wasn't equipped with the accelerometer.
Bosch-Sensortec is currently putting together another multi-mode reference design that points the way for OEMS using its chips for next-generation consumer-electronic devices. In particular, Bosch-Sensortec is working with the navigational device maker NumeriX S.A. (Manno, Switzerland) to combine a Bosch-Sensortec MEMS barometric-pressure sensor with NumeriX's global-positioning system (GPS) chip set.
"We make the world's smallest digital-pressure sensors, which we are integrating with GPS navigation solutions from NumeriX," said Melzer. "The SMD500 pressure sensor can detect changes in height as small as one foot, which helps when navigating stacked freeways and facilitates timely notification of upcoming exits. A pressure sensor can also help distinguish between closely packed freeway clover-leafs by detecting the slope of the road," said Melzer.
By integrating Bosch's SMD500 barometric pressure sensor with NumeriX GPS chips, the NumeriX/Bosch reference design achieves higher resolution for more accurate "turn" commands, as well as allowing multilevel bridges and stacked highways to be more easily navigated.
EE Times
November 20, 2007 (11:32 AM EST)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) penetrated the mass market two decades ago, when they enabled air bags to trigger fast enough to catch passengers before they hit the steering wheel or windshield. MEMS chips gained a major business-market design-win a decade ago, when they began to be used to fabricate the high-precision ink-jet print-heads that displaced impact printers.
Now, MEMS chips are entering the consumer-electronics mainstream with the same invigorating effect. Most recently, we're seeing MEMS technology being used in Nintendo's Wii and Apple's iPhone, and this may just be the beginning. The real volume customers will be the mainstream consumer-electronics makers adding MEMS chips to their ubiquitous devices. "We are at the edge of a mass market--today's MEMS applications are just the early adopters," said Bosch-Sensortec general manager and chief executive officer Frank Melzer. "The true mass-market adoption of MEMS will come when designers understand how a single MEMS sensor can have multiple uses in a single device, and when they learn how to use multiple sensors together to solve tough problems."
Bosch-Sensortec is the CE division of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest MEMS chip maker, which spun off its consumer electronics division in 2005. Now, Bosch-Sensortec has seven MEMS chips available for consumer applications--two pressure sensors for altimeters and navigation; two gyroscopes for image-stabilization applications; and three accelerometers, including a second-generation three-axis unit, the SMB380, which was recently dissected by Chipworks (Ottawa, Canada).
"Bosch's decision to spin-out its Sensortec division, dedicated to consumer electronics, appears to be paying off," said St. John Dixon-Warren, head of Chipworks Technical Intelligence Process Engineering team. "When we opened their new digital accelerometer, the SMD380, we found the MEMS die next to the ASIC instead of on top of it like before--that's how they made it thinner, which is what consumer devices need. Plus, Bosch has shrunk both the MEMS die and the ASIC, which is also what they needed to do to meet price concessions to mass-market customers while still making a profit."
Together with its parent company Robert Bosch, Bosch-Sensortec had MEMS sales in excess of $370 million last year--more than any other MEMS chip maker, according to Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC). STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor ranked second and third in WTC's ranking. Bosch intends to keep its lead, too; for instance, it just invested in a new 8-inch fab in Reutlingen, Germany, where up to thousand wafers containing up to one million chips per day will start being produced by 2009.
The consumer-device makers buying all those chips, according to Melzer, are telling Bosch-Sensortec that they want reference designs showing how to utilize MEMS chips in multiple ways. For instance, cell phones are predicted to consume as many as 10 billion MEMS chips by 2010, according to Philippe Kahn, founder of Fullpower Technologies Inc. (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Cell phones will use accelerometers to perform user-interface duties, such as picking-up the phone by shaking it, as well as to perform secondary tasks, such as extending battery life with intelligent power management that turns off the cell phone's display when its laid face down.
Beyond using a single MEMS chip for multiple tasks is using multiple sensor chips for a single task. Here, STMicroelectronics agrees with Bosch-Sensortec, according to Jay Esfandyari, MEMS market development manager at STMicroelectronics. As an example, Esfandyari has recently been demonstrating a reference design for an electronic compass that compensates for tilt using a three-axis accelerometer. Normally, a magnetometer chip requires that you keep it flat to read-out a compass heading correctly, but an accelerometer can sense orientation and compensate. STMicroelectronics' reference design shows the compensating compass heading in bold, with a lighter indicator showing how much the compass would be off if it wasn't equipped with the accelerometer.
Bosch-Sensortec is currently putting together another multi-mode reference design that points the way for OEMS using its chips for next-generation consumer-electronic devices. In particular, Bosch-Sensortec is working with the navigational device maker NumeriX S.A. (Manno, Switzerland) to combine a Bosch-Sensortec MEMS barometric-pressure sensor with NumeriX's global-positioning system (GPS) chip set.
"We make the world's smallest digital-pressure sensors, which we are integrating with GPS navigation solutions from NumeriX," said Melzer. "The SMD500 pressure sensor can detect changes in height as small as one foot, which helps when navigating stacked freeways and facilitates timely notification of upcoming exits. A pressure sensor can also help distinguish between closely packed freeway clover-leafs by detecting the slope of the road," said Melzer.
By integrating Bosch's SMD500 barometric pressure sensor with NumeriX GPS chips, the NumeriX/Bosch reference design achieves higher resolution for more accurate "turn" commands, as well as allowing multilevel bridges and stacked highways to be more easily navigated.
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