Baolab’s exciting new patented technology NanoEMS™ - Nano Embedded Mechanical Systems - enables the integration of MEMS motion sensors or RF switches in a standard CMOS process, resulting in dramatic price reductions and volume production scale.
Traditional ‘CMOS Compatible’ MEMS use tiny mechanical moving parts, typically built from elements constructed on top of the chip, which are fabricated with dedicated equipment and comparatively low volume processes.
At Baolab we take a lower cost, high volume approach: we have pioneered building MEMS inside the CMOS process itself.
Baolab NanoEMS™ technology uses the existing metal interconnect layers in a CMOS wafer to form the MEMS structure using standard mask techniques.
The structure is then freed from the inter-metal dielectric via an etch step and protectively sealed prior to standard packaging.
STEP 1
The MEMS structure is mask-defined within the standard CMOS metal interconnect layers and vias.
Patented design methods are used to create the structure: inertial masses, suspension springs, capacitive sensing plates, cantilevers and switching contacts.
STEP 2
The Inter Metal Dielectric (IMD) is then etched away through tiny openings in the passivation layer, freeing the MEMS structures to move.
The etching uses equipment that is already available for volume production and takes less than an hour, which is insignificant compared to the overall production time.
STEP 3
The holes are then sealed and the chip packaged as required.
As only standard CMOS processes are used, NanoEMS™ MEMS can be directly integrated with active circuitry as needed for signal conditioning, analog-digital conversion and digital signal processing.
Our new technology enables us to construct nanoscale MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) within the structure of the actual CMOS wafer itself.
We do this using standard, high volume CMOS lines. This is much easier and quicker with fewer process steps than existing MEMS fabrication techniques. They build the MEMS on the surface of the wafer and that is slow, expensive and requires specialist equipment.
The Baolab NanoEMS™ technology uses the existing metal layers in a CMOS wafer to form the MEMS structure using standard mask techniques. The Inter Metal Dielectric is then etched away through the pad openings in the passivation layer using vapour HF. The etching uses equipment that is already available for volume production and takes less than an hour, which is insignificant compared to the overall production time. The holes are then sealed and the chip packaged as required. As only standard CMOS processes are used, NanoEMS™ MEMS can be directly integrated with active circuitry as required.
The theory has been around for a while but we are the first people to put it into practice. Aluminum is not the ideal metal to build structures out of but, with clever design, we use the characteristics of the metal to create working solutions.
Our smarts are mainly in how we design the structures so that it is easy to remove the Inter Metal Dielectric to expose the structure as well as ensuring that the structure has the integrity for the task.
Feature sizes on our products are an order of magnitude smaller than conventional MEMS making them the world’s first commercial nanoscale MEMS.
Yes we have spent years perfecting our technology with test structures to fully characterize it and engineering samples for our first motion sensor product will be available in mid 2011.
Our NanoEMS™ technology significantly reduces the costs of several types of MEMS by up to two thirds and even more if several different types MEMS are created together on the same chip. With our technology they are all created at the same time.
3D Digital Compasses, 3D Accelerometers and 3D Gyroscopes can be built using NanoEMS™ , as well as combinations of two or more sensors, for example a 6-degree-of-freedom tilt-corrected electronic compass comprising both 3D compass and 3D accelerometer. RF switches are also under development for tunable 3G/4G mobile phone transceiver applications.
Yes. Compasses, accelerometers and gyroscopes can all be made simultaneously on the same CMOS chip using NanoEMS™ with considerable cost savings: traditional MEMS techniques require a different construction process for each type of MEMS.
Absolutely and that is a key aspect of our technology. It uses standard CMOS techniques so any fab can be used. You don’t have to stop the production line unlike other solutions.
As many as you want. For RF Switches, you need over a dozen switches in one device which is very cost effective when they are all made using NanoEMS™. Using traditional MEMS techniques, they would be prohibitively expensive.
Packaged engineering samples will be available by the middle of 2011.
Until now building MEMS on top of the wafer has been slow, expensive and required special machines that needed to be run separately from the standard CMOS production line. This has held back the market for MEMS.
We are a genuine disruptive technology. We build inside the wafer itself using standard CMOS techniques so we get all the benefits and cost reductions of CMOS bulk production. It’s like going from hand assembly to full automation. With our NanoEMS™ products being a fraction of the cost of conventional MEMS, the market for MEMS can really take off.
