MEMS, Microfluidics and Microsystems Executive Review

A Universal CMOS MEMS Process?

Unlike the semiconductor industry, MEMS devices have been traditionally manufactured using a variety of highly-specialized processes geared for each specific device.   This variety of MEMS fabrication processes has contributed to higher commercialization costs and longer times to market.  While there are established MEMS processes such as Sandia’s SUMMiT and Microfabrica’s EFAB,  a startup company Akustica is now promoting its CMOS MEMS process as a possible industry standard for monolithic CMOS MEMS devices.  Akustica has focused on MEMS based microphones thus far, but the company claims that its process is versatile and can also be used to make monolithic RF and inertial MEMS products.  We recently spoke with Akustica’s CTO Ken Gabriel.

Sonion MEMS scales up its microphone business

We recently published a review on the current status of MEMS  microphones.  While Knowles Acoustics remains the market leader, companies such as Sonion and Akustica are also going after this exciting opportunity. 

We spoke with Dr. Jacob Philipsen, President of Sonion’s MEMS division, about the company’s current activities, competition, product pipeline and the process of transferring the microphone technology from a university lab prototype to a mass produced commercial product.

MEMS microphones break design mould

by Dr. Richard Dixon, Wicht Technologie Consulting

Silicon micromachined microphones have recently begun to emerge as a competitor technology to the electret condenser microphone (ECM), a device first developed by Bell Labs way back in the 1960s. Today, MEMS microphones amount to just tens of millions of units, but by 2009 will have carved out an estimated $500 million piece of the $2 billion total market for microphones — on average every third microphone will be based on MEMS.

While companies like Panasonic dominate the manufacture of electret microphones, a handful of companies such as market leader Knowles Acoustics and recent entrants, Sonion and Akustica, are supplying this hot market with analog and digital MEMS microphones for mobile phones, notebooks, and consumer products with audio input such as video recorders, digital cameras, dictation devices, and PDAs, in fact, any device requiring an audio input.

CMOS MEMS activities at Akustica

We recently spoke with Dr. Ken Gabriel, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, and Davin Yuknis, Vice President of Marketing, of Akustica about their company's ongoing activities and experiences with CMOS MEMS applications.

CEO of Akustica discusses MEMS mics

MEMS microphones are becoming increasingly popular with manufacturers of consumer electronics.  We recently spoke with the CEO of Akustica Jim Rock and VP Marketing Davin Yuknis. 

MEMS and Microphones

A few weeks ago, we mentioned a story which reported that 5% of all microphones sold in 2005 will be MEMS microphones.  This week, Shawn Beus from Knowles Acoustics has an interesting review of MEMS based microphones.