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MEMS Impact on Electronics
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
By Daniela Carrillo and Keith Robinson
MEMS is expected to revolutionize the sensors industry as well as industrial and consumer products by combining low-cost silicon-based microelectronics with micromachining technology.
Over the years, the sensors industry has advanced from bulk and mechanical to smaller and smarter sensing devices. This has been possible because of the advent of more advanced sensing technology and the development of revolutionary process technology such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). MEMS is the most important of the emerging technologies, accelerating the rise of smart sensors in the short run. In concept, MEMS technology is simple; it amounts to nothing more than using semiconductor manufacturing techniques to create analog instruments. A key characteristic of MEMS technology is that it allows the construction of smaller and lighter devices. MEMS technology goes beyond a packaging technique; it needs to configure how to take a microdevice and protect its moving parts when they are being connected. Most importantly, this innovative process technology is expected to open the doors to more intelligent and smaller systems to a broader range of potential end-user markets.
Market Dynamics
In 2001, the total North American MEMS-based sensors market generated revenues of approximately $1.4 billion, with a revenue growth rate of 13.7 percent. These revenues represented the sales of MEMS-based sensors generated from the automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense (A&D), and medical markets. This market was not impacted negatively by the economic downturn of 2001. Revenue growth rates are projected to experience a slowdown from 13.7 percent in 2001 to 8.8 percent in 2002, but they should recuperate once the economy begins to improve.
Figure 1. Total MEMS-based sensors market: Revenue forecast and unit shipments (North America), 1999-2004.
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Although MEMS technology has been around for two decades, it still is trying to penetrate the consumer electronics, telecommunications and computing markets. Currently, MEMS pressure sensors are used in the computing industry in printers. But the most promising MEMS accelerometer market is in the consumer electronics industry, telecommunications industry and the handheld global positioning markets.
In the handheld game market, MEMS accelerometers will allow users to tilt the device and maneuver throughout the game without using a keypad or joystick. MEMS accelerometers can be used in the cell phone market to allow the user to scroll through Web pages without using a button. Another key feature for these devices in cell phones is use in GPS applications. Currently, if a user holds a compass at an angle that is not parallel with the earth, a false reading is given. In a cell phone, a user can hold the device at any angle and the accelerometer will correct the offset and give an accurate reading.
Laptop security and data storage protection is another key market for MEMS accelerometers in portable computing devices. A MEMS accelerometer will be able to detect the movement of a laptop if it is alarmed and either sound an alarm or shut down the system. Additionally, these devices will impact data storage significantly. Currently, if a disk drive is moved it may write corrupted data. MEMS accelerometers will measure for movement and stop writing data on the disk when there is movement. Once movement is stopped, the pad will write data on the disk.
SMT packaging is the preferred package for MEMS accelerometers. Small-outline packages are commonly used. It also is anticipated that MEMS technology will help jumpstart the electronics manufacturing industry with more use of active matrix liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in cell phones.
Figure 2. Total MEMS-based sensors market: Revenues by product type (North America), 2001.
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Figure 3. Total MEMS-based sensors market: Revenues by product type (North America), 2008.
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As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, MEMS pressure sensors represent the largest stake in the total North American MEMS-based sensors market with a share of 54.5 percent in 2001. There are three types of pressure sensors: differential pressure sensors, which measure the difference in the simultaneous pressure applied to both sides of the diaphragm; gauge pressure sensors, which feature a built-in atmospheric pressure sensor as a reference value, allowing the other side of the diaphragm to be exposed to the variable pressure; and absolute pressure sensors, when the reference pressure is zero or a vacuum. Demand for these sensors should increase.
Several companies have targeted the medical industry as a safe haven with the current economic downturn. With the aging baby boomer generation, the medical device market will have an incredible impact on the electronics industry. The medical industry remains an untapped area for MEMS accelerometers since they are not as widely used as MEMS pressure sensors; however, they have a few applications such as pacemakers and motion and sleep monitoring. Another market that has growth potential for accelerometers is the A&D industry, where these devices are used in inertial navigation units on a chip for munitions guidance and personal navigation, as well as weapon safing, arming and fusing.
MEMS gyroscopes represented the smallest portion of the total North American MEMS-based sensors market with a share of 6.2 percent in 2001. Although share for these devices is projected to increase in the automotive, industrial, and A&D markets, there still are some constraints in microfabricating this device primarily due to active parts and signals. However, some companies are introducing reliable, accurate and low-cost MEMS gyroscopes.
Another advantage of MEMS-based gyroscopes against traditional gyroscopes is that the latter are bulkier and consume more power. Therefore, they are not able to meet the requirements of future advanced systems such as hand-held navigation and micro-satellites. MEMS gyroscopes, on the other hand, offer a near-perfect solution because of their compact size, low cost and low power consumption. Throughout the forecast period, the percent of revenues of MEMS gyroscopes is anticipated to increase and settle at 12.8 percent as more new applications for these devices are introduced in a broader range of end-user markets.
Market Barriers
Typically, when a new technology starts to be commercially available in any given market, there are obstacles that tend to have a high impact at first. However, as the industry works to overcome these hurdles they become obsolete. Packaging MEMS-based sensors probably is the greatest challenge facing the MEMS sensors industry today, which sometimes constitutes most of the development resources. There is no set standard for packaging and because several products require customized solutions, it is not profitable for MEMS manufacturers to develop a customized solution.
Another constraint is the lack of adequate commercialization efforts. This problem stems partly from the fact that the technology is more a catalyst for new and better products than an end-product in itself. There still is a lack of awareness of the technology on the part of the industrial community. Surprisingly, many manufacturers do not realize that MEMS technology could place their products at a significant competitive advantage. It also is difficult to persuade companies to try MEMS because the actual costs of adopting MEMS technology remain unclear to many firms.
Wireless MEMS
An ideal application for MEMS in the near future is wireless or radio frequency (RF) communication systems, a strong potential market in which microdevices offer the possibility of achieving significantly lower power consumption and more compact integration. Moreover, RF MEMS technology can be used in products such as cellular phones, Bluetooth-connected peripherals and wireless networking. Some of the primary requirements of these markets are low cost, high stability and vibration resistance — all of which can be achieved successfully by using MEMS-based devices. RF MEMS components being developed include switches and variable capacitors.
MEMS has been categorized as a most promising process technology and will continue to revolutionize the sensors industry as well as industrial and consumer products by combining low-cost silicon-based microelectronics with micromachining technology. Its techniques and microsystem-based devices have the potential to impact lives.
For more information, contact Julia Paulson, Frost & Sullivan, (210) 247-3870; E-mail: jpaulson@frost.com.