Low-cost massively-parallel assembly process for MEMS components

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Accelerometers, gyroscopes and microphones are just some of the everyday applications ofmicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that are now ubiquitous components in consumerelectronic devices. As manufacturers of smart phones and tablets endeavour to shrink theirdevices ever further, so the wasted space between components in these devices becomes evermore inhibiting, both in terms of physical size and cost. Separating the manufacturingprocesses of the MEMS component and the host chip can enable massive space and costsavings to be realised, but only if the process designed to subsequently combine the two islow-cost and high-throughput. Nu Nano is developing a process of this nature which iscapable of addressing 400 MEMS components simultaneously and targeting a 90% reductionin manufacturing costs.Nu Nano will demonstrate this by manufacturing probes for atomic force microscopy (AFM).These probes, made from silicon, consist of a cantilever and tip, much akin to a record playercantilever and stylus, but the rest of the silicon area is only used for handling. By separatingthe fabrication of the complex functional part of the probe and the bulk chip material, thismassive cost saving will be realised