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Our seventh year of MEMS !! Microsystems
information since 2002
12th May 2009
Biomimetic
approach for improving odour detection
An
article published by Julian Gardner
entitled “Improved odour detection through imposed biomimetic temporal
dynamics”. They use a novel odour
analysis technology together with temporal dynamical delivery of odours
to chemical sensor
arrays which they call "an artificial mucosa".
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/eed/research/srl/
8th December 2008
Audio
products: a family of single-chip digital
microphones from
Akustica digital microphones.http://www.akustica.com/
8th December 2008
Electromagnetic Fields simulation specialist
Ansoft Corp. announced
ePhysics
v2 which enhances their simulation capability and allows
steady-state thermal,
transient thermal and linear stress analyses coupling to HFSS and
Maxwell 3D with dynamic-link co-simulation. This can now simulate
heating, stress and deformation consequences of
high- and low-frequency electromagnetic fields.
Ansoft are a subsidiary of Ansys.
7th December 2008.
http://www.systron.com/
has 44% of the market for gyroscopes (used to measure a car's yaw rate).
12th August 2008
Smart Dust May Revolutionize Health Care http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=1&issue=20081208
Smart dust is a
collection of integrated computer chips that can measure temperature,
vibrations or surface
pressures etc.
28th November 2004
Research
work at Birmingham
University aims to develop micro reciprocating engines. They claim
that "the significance of a micro engine is that it has a big advantage
over batteries in terms of energy released per unit weight."
Two
types of micro engines are planned. One is cryogenic engine using
compressed CO2 gas, and another is combustion engine what consumes
propane gas for combustion.
25th November 2004
A tiny generator a centimetre across and three
millimetres high has produced more than a watt of electricity, enough
to power a cellphone.
ZDnetUK
17th November 2004
Siemens
is working on monitoring the climate in buildings by means of MEMS. In
a
few weeks, prototypes are scheduled to begin test operations in the
laboratories, where they will measure the CO
2 and ammonia
content.
In the future, the researchers plan to
make the sensors out of a single piece of
silicon instead of installing multiple components on a silicon
substrate as is currently the case. These should be fully
developed in about five years' time. It is speculated that if hidden in
the paint or the
carpet, these sensors could communicate with one another, sound an
alarm if harmful gases are detected or regulate air conditioning
and heating systems. (
Azonano)
16th September 2004
Toshiba
Corp. has
developed a MEMS-based pump for fuel
cells, a move seen as an important step forward in miniaturizing the
devices for portable systems. Toshiba's
prototype
device uses microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology to pump
fuel and air into a passive fuel cell stack for a portable phone
recharger. The company eventually expects to use MEMS
pumps in hybrid passive/active fuel cells for cellphones and PDAs.
http://www.eetimes.com/at/se/news/OEG20031003S0039
3rd June 2004
Packaging of MEMS devices
presents a technological challenge,
Hymite
have developed a Magnetic Proximity Switch for in-vivo medical
applications. The switch is targeted to replace much bigger
conventional reed switches and comes in a 1.8x1.8x0.8mm fully
SMT-compatible package.
The
package is realized by a silicon lid or "cap" (
HyCap®) a chip size
hermetic seal. which is provided with
electrical through-wafer interconnects (µ-VIAS). The cap itself is a
flip chip device with solder balls and sealing ring on the front side,
and SMD pads on the back side. Sealing and soldering of the electrical
interconnections is performed within one flip chip assembly process
step. Sealing rings and pads on the cap and MEMS sides are perfectly
aligned by solder surface tension forces (eutectic AuSn solder is
used).
25th May 2004
Next Generation Viscometer
MEMS
USA, Inc. announced today that it has filed a patent application
for its
next generation Viscometer. The sensor is installed directly into
process pipelines and provides real-time viscosity measurement. MEMS
USA, Inc. is a California-based professional scientific and
technical services company.
www.memsusa.com.
16th May
2004
Advanced Sensor Technologies Inc. ( AST) has
developed a
miniature
device that can be applied as easily as a Band Aid
TM,
for non-invasively extracting interstitial fluid through the skin. The
device includes integrated sensing technology for measurement of
various biologically-relevant components within the fluid as well as
integrated features for therapeutic control (i.e. drug delivery).
AST, is a
privately held medical device research and development corporation, and
was founded in 1997. The company primarily focuses on the research and
development of MEMS-based sensors and micro fluidic systems for the
biotechnology market. AST's R&D facilities in Farmington Hills,
Michigan, include a tissue culture laboratory, a cell biology
laboratory, a wet laboratory, an electronics laboratory, and a machine
shop.
Hal Cantor said his small biotechnology firm "will begin selling small
ceramic wafers to researchers
later this year". Each wafer is about 1-inch square and has 320
sensors.
When testing new drugs, researchers can put cell samples on the wafers
and the sensors will allow them to study a wide range of cell-drug
reactions (for example, type I diabetes, psychiatric disorders, and
sleep disorders).
2 April 2004
Following a highly successful European project
(TUNVIC) on tunable semiconductor lasers, two researchers from the
Technical Univeristy of Darmstadt
have formed a company to commercialise long-wavelength tunable VCSELs
("VCSEL" = Vertical
Cavity Surface Emitting Laser).
The start-up Two-Chip Photonics
is now considering the market potential for its tunable lasers that
have a centre wavelength of 1550 nm and a tuning range of about
30 nm
-- the largest to date for a singlemode VCSEL. The lasers consist of an
InGaAs VCSEL which has its top mirror removed and
replaced with a movable MEMS mirror membrane. The laser’s emission
wavelength is tuned by applying a small current which causes the
position of the mirror membrane, and hence the length of the laser
cavity, to change.
11th February 2004
Continuum
Photonics Inc., are in the optical networking market and supply
advanced photonic switch products. They have announced a series of
optical
switches using piezoelectric forces to angle tiny mirrors. The
switch is aimed at the test market and sits
between test equipment and the devices being tested (line cards, for
instance). The switch's programmable nature means engineers could build
arbitrary topologies in the lab without rewiring all the equipment
being tested. Networks arranged in a ring, for instance, could be
converted to a mesh via software, saving time
.
This technology is
similar to a Thin-film Micromirror Array (TMA), a reflective type of
spatial
light modulator fabricated with optical MEMS technology.
Scientists
at Xerox Corporation are also conducting research into
micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS
- Xerox technology).
AKN part of a group that
is raising US$20mil for
Nanochip.
AKN Technology Bhd is joining software giant Microsoft Corp and others
to raise more than US$20mil in
mid-2004 for Nanochip Inc, a US-based company involved in the research
and development of MEMS based data
storage devices. The high growth markets targeted are flash memory
cards, cache
memory drives, and embedded telecommunication chips, requiring high
memory storage capacity. It is reported that these MEMS data storage
devices have the capacity to store up to four gigabytes of data.
AKN
Company Profile.
Scientists at Philips
Research claim
to have made a significant step
towards perfecting new MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) devices
that will enhance the performance and minimise the size of
RF
circuits
in mobile phones. A variable
MEMS
capacitor solution for the impedance matching network will
typically require
less than half the printed circuit board area needed to accommodate
today's discrete component networks. In addition, within a mobile phone
system this will
significantly increase the power amplifier's efficiency and hence
conserve battery power.