[March 19, 2013]

Research and Markets: MEMS Front-End Manufacturing Trends Report 2013

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xfdcdv/mems_frontend) has announced the addition of the "MEMS Front-End Manufacturing Trends 2013" report to their offering.

Though MEMS standardization will never happen, companies are optimizing their own technology platforms. Such process innovations will drive MEMS equipment and materials to a 7% CAGR over 2012-2018.

CHANGES IN MEMS MANUFACTURING WILL DRIVE THE EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS MARKET FROM $378M TO $512M FOR EQUIPMENT AND $136M TO $248M FOR MATERIALS BETWEEN 2012-2018

Innovative processes are fueling the MEMS equipment & materials market. We forecast that demand for MEMS-related equipment will grow from - $378M in 2012 to > $510M by 2018, at a CAGR of 5.2% over the next five years. It's interesting to note that our MEMS equipment market forecast will follow a cyclical up/downturn similar to what the mainstream IC equipment market underwent. The demand for materials and related MEMS consumables will grow from -$136M in 2012 to > $248M by 2018 at a CAGR of 10.5% over the next five years.

AS MEMS BECOME COMMODITY PRODUCTS, MANUFACTURING WILL CHANGE AND MATURE

Today, MEMS fabrication is still very diversified and lacking in standardization; Yole D�veloppement's rule � one product, one process � still applies. Indeed, MEMS has a different story than IC and doesn't follow the same roadmap as the semiconductor industry. Thus, it's still common to see many players with radically different manufacturing approaches for the same MEMS device, sometimes witin the same company (i.e. both the CMOS MEMS and hybrid approaches can be used for inertial devices or microphones).

In this report, we'll also show that as MEMS moves from competing on process technology to competing on functions and systems, a move towards more standard solutions will be necessary to drive down package size and cost.

TSV & UNIQUE WAFER STACKING SOLUTIONS ARE KEY ENABLERS FOR REDUCING DIE SIZE AND COST

MEMS Front-End Manufacturing Trends report highlights the major front-end manufacturing changes. For example, TSV for CSP (News - Alert) is gradually seeping into the MEMS industry. To this end, we've analyzed STMicroelectronics' unique approach to making TSVs in its MEMS die in-house, in order to attach the die to the motherboard. This approach eliminates the area needed for the bond pads by replacing them with polysilicon vias isolated by etched-out air gaps, made with its basic MEMS process but on about a 10x larger scale. STM reports that the 20%-30% reduction in die size more than offsets the modest cost of the TSV process, resulting in a lower total cost.

The list includes:

- Through Si Vias

- Room temperature bonding

- Thin films PZT

- Temporary bonding

- Cavity SOI

- CMOS MEMS

- Other MEMS technologies, i.e. gold bonding, could be widely used to reduce die size while maintaining great hermeticity for wafer level packaging.

OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT

To provide a forecast in units and $M for front-end MEMS equipment & materials

- To offer an overview of the equipment & materials used for the wide range of MEMS devices

- To present examples of MEMS manufacturing processes

- To show MEMS cost structures

- To highlight what's changing in MEMS manufacturing, and why

WHAT'S NEW COMPARED TO LAST EDITION

- Equipment & materials market forecast : lithography etching, deposition, bonding, substrates, chemistry, new materials, CMOS MEMS

- Manufacturing cost breakdown per MEMS device type

- MEMS device technology process flow & manufacturing trends analysis: MEMS accelerometers/gyroscopes, MEMS microphones, MEMS pressure sensors, MEMS microbolometers, MEMS micro-mirrors, RF MEMS switches, MEMS oscillators

- Trends in MEMS manufacturing steps

KEY FEATURES OF THE REPORT

- MEMS process adoption cycle

- MEMS equipment & materials forecast

- MEMS manufacturing process analysis: What's new

- MEMS equipment & materials market forecast 2012-2018

- Detailed MEMS manufacturing process flow

- MEMS manufacturing cost structure

- MEMS manufacturing strategy analysis

Key Topics Covered:

1. Report Scope & Definitions

2. Executive summary

3. Introduction to the MEMS industry: Market Dynamics & Key Players

4. Equipment & Materials Forecast for MEMS Devices

5. Detailed MEMS Process Flows & Manufacturing Trends Analysis

6. MEMS Manufacturing Trends by Process

7. Conclusions

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xfdcdv/mems_frontend

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