ELECTRONICS SENSORS
The important role of novel MEMS technology in the future of sensors
Dr. Josep Montanyà i Silvestre, chief executive at Nanusens, says that, put simply, the world is made ‘smarter’ because of sensors.
S
ensors are becoming indispensable in daily life. A key component of smartphones, smart wearables, earbuds and a host of other smart devices, sensors identify changes such as motion, pressure and temperature then generate the digital signals needed for processing this information. These sensors have tiny mechanical parts that move due to a specific stimulus. This movement is detected to form an electrical signal.
Known as MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology, it is crucial for the creation of high functioning sensors. Despite the fact that there have been some challenges with traditional MEMS technology, fortunately there are MEMS advances in progress that will help significantly with the development and performance of next- generation sensors.
Challenges with traditional MEMS Currently MEMS production requires specialised processes and a specially created line. As demand is outstripping supply in many cases, the only way to increase production is to build another identical line which takes time and incurs huge costs.
Similarly, creating a new MEMS sensor means designing and commissioning a brand-new line. Tiny variations in fabrication can lead to performance differences or device failure, so MEMS manufacturing can have lower yields than standard semiconductor processes. These MEMS limitations have been causing concern across the industry.
A new era
We are entering a new era of smartphones, wearables and medical implants, so finding a solution to these MEMS production and cost issues is fundamental for scaling in the future. Modern sensors also need to be smaller, lighter and more power-efficient, without compromising performance.
24 JUNE 2025 | ELECTRONICS FOR ENGINEERS
MEMS technology must deliver more compact results, whilst allowing for multiple sensing elements to be embedded in a single package to help enhance functionality. Power consumption and durability are critical, so that the sensors are appropriate for battery-powered devices and IoT applications which often involve continuous monitoring.
Suitability and accessibility for use in consumer and healthcare markets, not just high-end or industrial applications, is key.
MEMS advances
One company has taken a completely different approach to creating MEMS that solves the drawbacks of traditional MEMS. At Nanusens, instead of building a MEMS structure on top of a sliver of silicon, it is created by using the metal layers within a CMOS chip. CMOS chips can be made in any of the many CMOS fabs around the world, so there are no limitations on the number of sensors. This ensures access to the huge economies of scale that these giant fabs provide.
Also, as the new process involves building within the CMOS chip the structures are not microscopic in size, but nanoscopic. This reduces the power consumption of each sensor and means that several different kinds of sensors can be built within the chip at the same time to enable true multi- sensor chips to be created. This shrinks down the size of a multi-sensor solution to
free up more space for additional features and batteries.
Other advantages to these NEMS (Nano- Electro-Mechanical Systems) include increased performance due to very small parasitic capacitances. This is because, with traditional MEMS, it is detecting very tiny capacitance variations in the region of attofarads from one die that is connected via wire bonds to the MEMS die. Wire bonding or building the traditional MEMS structure on top of a CMOS wafer introduces a parasitic capacitance of around a picofarad (so 6 orders of magnitude larger than what you are trying to measure). With the novel MEMS-within- CMOS approach, this is reduced to around ten femtofarads or less, which is a significant noise to signal ratio improvement. Building with just standard CMOS processes also means that the control electronic can be integrated into the CMOS chip alongside the sensor structures to create a single chip solution and single die solution.
Nanusens also uses a minimal packaging technology known as WLCSP (Wafer Level Chip Scale Packaging) which offers the minimal size and minimal profile. Furthermore, Nanusens has designed a way to detect the capacitance changes using a digital circuit rather than the traditional analog one, so that the sensor designs and digital circuit can be ported to smaller nodes as required to reduce power consumption and size even more, whilst still maintaining extreme reliability.
Conclusion
As modern smartphones and smart wearables continue to require even greater functionality, the need for more complex sensors surges too. It’s clear that novel MEMS technology will play an increasingly important role in the future of sensors, enabling the next generation of smart devices that society demands.
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