Commercial MEMS products - nanogloss.com

Commercial MEMS products

MEMSis an acronym for Micro ElectroMechanical Systems. These techniquesemploy  nanoparticle technology to create delicate electronic circuitsand other mechanical devices that can be manufactured onto a siliconmicrochip in much the same way that integrated circuits are made.

MEMS technology allows for the construction of high-tech items likeextremely tiny sensor chips whose electronics are built-in rather thanadhered separately; such chips had been produced before, but at a fargreater cost and a far larger size. The newer MEMS chips are both tinyand more cost-effective.

Scientists and R&D researchers have found virtually endlesspossibilities for this technology, since it can be used to actuate allkinds of delicate electronics. Some commercial MEMS products that havealready been developed and released for public consumption include:

• MEMS accelerator chips that can sense when a vehicle has been in a collision, determine how severe the accident was, and deploy the vehicle’s airbags at a speed and size that correlate with this information. “Smart” airbags could save lives, since both too little and too many airbags have been known to cause death in accident situations.
• MEMS mirror chips that are manufactured into projection screen TV’s. This new type of television technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we view visual media, as well as boost market profits considerably for all associated sectors of the economy.
• MEMS inkjet nozzles. These high-tech printer components not only consume far less power than traditional nozzles, making them more cost-effective, but they also are the industry’s fastest. With these nozzles in place, printers can achieve speeds of 15 lines a second when printing onto rolled paper and three pages a minute when using loose sheets.
• Medical MEMS pressure sensors. These ultra-sensitive pressure readers can be used for a wide variety of medical procedures, but one of them has been the development of a more effective and less bulky pacemaker.

Since MEMS is such a relatively new technological discovery, thebulk of its applications are still being discovered, with more ideasbeing born every day. Here are some MEMS products currently in the developmental stage:

• A computer game controller that uses MEMS technology. Video game companies are hoping that they can use MEMS to enhance the gaming experience. In much the same way that the Nintendo Wii controllers made all previous controllers obsolete with their motion-sensing technology, the new controllers will be even more hands-free and body-motion sensing.
• A MEMS gyroscope that can be programmed to incorporate customized features so that gyroscopes can be integrated with industrial equipment in a more cost-effective manner. By using only the functions that they need, companies can reduce their gyroscope-related operational costs significantly.
• Microphones that use MEMS technology in order to function. These microphones are not only smaller and more effective than traditional microphones, they are also more cost-effective to produce and longer-lasting. They are even more heat-resistant than conventional models, so that using them for a long time isn’t a problem because they won’t get overheated or develop heat-related issues.
• MEMS RF switches. These devices are part of what makes your microwave function, and when upgraded with MEMS technology they can render microwaves more cost-efficient and energy-efficient by reducing power loss in microwave applications.
• MEMS Blood pressure device. This super-powered sensor can read every little detail about your blood pressure, and best of all it can be implanted in patients to provide constant, 24-hour surveillance. This is especially useful for those in critical condition who require such delicate care. The MEMS device has strong wireless information transfer capabilities, which is what allows it to be directly implanted in the patient’s body in the first place.
• MEMS oscillators. Currently, most people in the industry use quartz oscillators. The MEMS version of this device is not only smaller and more effective, but also can integrate better with the electronics circuits that oscillators typically interact with.

MEMS technology has also revolutionized the way that electronics aremanufactured. It is especially well suited for techniques like bulkmicromachining, where micro-mechanical structures using nothing but thethickness of a wafer of silicon. Micro-process etching is used tomachine the silicon chip, after which glass plates or other chips areadded using anodic bonding. MEMS can also be used in surfacemicromachining and high aspect ratio, or HAR micromachining.

Every up-and-coming business in the technological industry has astrong MEMs research and development program. Large firms tend tospecialize in high volume small parts manufacturing or creatingpackaged solutions for what are known as “end markets,” which includethe biomedical industry, automobiles, and electronics. Smaller firmsoffer innovative solutions and generate high profit margins throughsales in order to pay for the custom manufacturing. But no matter theirsize, all firms provide intensive research and development to explorethe further commercial possibilities of MEMS products.

R&D is perhaps the most lucrative area associated with MEMS todate, since most of its applications have yet to be discovered.Engineering software has been developed that allows MEMS researchers totake products from concept to completion and also provides prototypingand testing applications along the way. MEMS design often employs whatis known as finite element analysis. Some software programs even allowresearchers to test the potential effects of heat, dynamics, andelectrical connections on their particular MEMS product. Onceprototypes have been developed, they can be put through their pacesusing tools such as microscopes, stroboscopes, and laser Dopplerscanning vibrometers.

All of this work pays off in the market. It is estimated that theglobal micro-electromechanical systems industry, whose mainstays tendto be airbag systems, inkjet cartridges and display systems, raked in atotal of $40 billion in 2006 alone. By 2008 this figure had skyrocketedto $6.9 billion, and numbers continue to rise. Contrast this with the$1 billion in total production costs expended by the MEMSmanufacturers, and you have staggering profit margins in the lucrativenew MEMS commercial arena.