Wireless microelectromechanical integrated sensors

与激光或集成电路一样，微机电系统（MEMS）是一种颠覆性技术，它可以增强现有系统并实现新的应用。据预测，MEMS市场将在未来三年内经历显着增长（每年14%至19%），并将涉及许多不同的新兴应用，如微型显示器，燃料电池，流体和传感器。MEMS传感器在消费市场的占有率越来越高，有大量的商业化设备，如运动控制手持设备、安全气囊部署系统和麦克风。此外，由于它们是可移动的，MEMS传感器非常适合用于遥测传输的无线接口。MEMS的制造技术与用于制造集成电路的技术类似。因此，互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）芯片是实现MEMS传感器内的无线接口和数据处理电路的自然选择。然而，由于微加工工艺的不兼容性、MEMS特定电路设计的复杂性以及系统封装的高成本，CMOS和MEMS技术的集成仍然很困难。

Like lasers or integrated circuits, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a disruptive technology, which enhances existing systems and enables new applications. It is projected that the MEMS market will experience significant growth over the next three years (14 to 19% per year), and will involve many different emerging applications such as micro displays, fuel cells, fluidics, and sensors. MEMS sensors have had an increased presence in the consumer market, with a significant number of commercialized devices such as motion controlled handhelds, airbags deployment systems, and microphones. In addition, because they are mobile, MEMS sensors are well suited to wireless interfaces for the transmission of telemetry. MEMS are fabricated with similar technologies to those used for the fabrication of integrated circuits. As such, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chips are a natural choice for implementing the wireless interfaces and the data processing circuitry included within MEMS sensors. However, the integration of CMOS and MEMS technologies remains difficult because of microfabrication process incompatibilities, MEMS-specific circuit design intricacies, and high cost of system packaging. This research program aims to investigate the design of circuits and MEMS transducers for the implementation of integrated MEMS sensors with wireless capabilities. The research program is structured into three different axes: 1) integrated circuits for sensors, 2) MEMS fabrication, and 3) system integration. Ultimately, this research program will facilitate the creation of fully integrated wireless MEMS sensors in order to enable low-cost, small form factor systems, which can be used in a variety of environments and applications. This will yield advances in the fields of MEMS, sensing and low-power communications, which represent significant contributions to research in Canada.