MEMS sensors
The shape of sensors to come The advances in MEMS technologies and techniques means that manufacturers are now able to produce very capable MEMS sensors and devices, but many cannot be installed directly into an end application because they cannot survive the rigours of final assembly. Conversely, conventional sensors can survive just about any assembly process and any application, but are often perceived as being too big and too expensive. The challenge for the manufacturers of MEMS sensors that are to be used in commercial products is to take the MEMS price and form factor, and package it into something able to withstand harsh environments.
Indeed, it is this second level of packaging that must be envisioned and understood by specialist manufacturers moving forward to realise growth potential. Today, the majority of industry innovation and commercial opportunity is centred on the application of existing MEMS devices, in addition to new ways to package and integrate MEMS devices within a system that can be used directly by end users.
With the MEMS market returning to growth during 2010, the agile OEMs will be those that determine how to integrate conventional sensor fabrication technologies and performance capabilities with the emerging MEMS trends to overcome the limitations in material needs and processes. If the latter are addressed, then it is possible that MEMS will capture a larger portion of the overall sensor market.
The rise of chem-bio
One area of intense industry focus over the past five years is that of chemical-biological (chem-bio) sensors. Governments worldwide have been investing heavily in R&D, driven primarily by the heightened threat posed by a chemical or biological attack. Chem-bio sensors respond to changes in their chemical/biological environment and convert this response into a signal that can be read.
Suitable for national security applications, chem- bio sensors are able to quickly and effectively detect dangerous agents in their immediate vicinity – including chemical, biological, nuclear and explosive materials. San Francisco officials recently proposed to regulate the sensors on its buildings in order to detect such agents and, last year, the US Army demonstrated the feasibility of a sensor network to improve situational awareness and reaction time in the field during chemical or biological incidents.
The US Army demonstration used military standard formatted Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) messages from a sensor located on the soldier, to pass information via machine-to-machine data exchange up to the operations centre to be validated. If a sensor was triggered or an incident occurred, the soldier received an automatic audio alert based on the NBC message type, and an icon appeared on their ‘heads-up’ display. The system displayed the areas that needed to be contained or avoided, and helped to plan egress
Issue III 2012
www.siliconsemiconductor.net 29
routes and notify soldiers when the area was clear. Further R&D will most likely see chem-bio sensors integrated into the smallest and most subtle of places, from an individual’s clothing, to mobile phones. This will provide an instantaneous and automatic method of detection that can offer notifications of a chemical incident to the authorities, and may even combine GPS (global positioning system) to enable rapid location capabilities.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the biosensors market is expected to grow from $6.72 billion in 2009, to $14.42 billion in 2016 – driven largely by the biodefence and home diagnostic markets. However, it should be noted that in keeping with the diversity of the sensors market, a chemical sensor may only be deemed a ‘biosensor’ if it employs a biological element that detects chemicals (e.g. blood glucose testing, or screening for disease). Chem-bio sensors add a new dimension to MEMS, in that they call for development of somewhat exotic microstructures, such as cylinders within cylinders or those that are semi-permeable. Moreover, the challenge of how to ensure they become pervasive is one the industry has still to address.
© 2012 Angel Business Communications. Permission required.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40