Samarbejde skal bane vejen for piezoelektriske MEMS-produkter
AMFitzgerald og MEMS Infinity har etableret en udviklingsalliance, hvor der skal arbejdes på accelerere kommercialiseringen af piezoelektriske MEMS-produkter (in english).
A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, LLC (AMFitzgerald), a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) product development company, and Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. (SPP)’s MEMS Infinity - which offers a full-service MEMS silicon wafer foundry - has announced a strategic and technical alliance to expedite the commercialization of thin-film PZT MEMS chip technologies.
PZT is a versatile piezoelectric material that is sought after for MEMS sensors or actuators serving high-growth applications such as True Wireless Stereo, automotive LiDAR, medical ultrasound imaging, AR/VR, haptics and other applications that require precise performance in a robust, ultra-miniaturized form factor.
- As a material that enables many types of emerging, performance-intensive MEMS devices, thin-film PZT is much in demand, says Dr. Alissa M. Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of AMFitzgerald.
- PZT, however, requires specific process tools and expertise that are not widespread. For companies trying to develop PZT MEMS technologies, it’s been especially difficult to access commercial-quality material during development stages, while wafer volumes are low. That’s a problem because using poorly controlled research-grade materials during prototyping really slows down product development. But that’s about to change. Our new alliance with MEMS Infinity will give our customers an integrated design-to-manufacture solution using high-quality PZT from day one.
The AMFitzgerald-MEMS Infinity alliance meets a critical need in the MEMS industry ecosystem:
- Pairs AMFitzgerald’s expertise in MEMS development with MEMS Infinity’s aerospace-grade prototyping and manufacturing capability in PZT MEMS.
- Offers a seamless design-to-production experience for customers.
- Facilitates global access to MEMS Infinity’s thin-film PZT.
- Leverages proprietary data on thin-film PZT to improve accuracy of MEMS design and modeling, minimizing the need for design-build-test cycles and accelerating product development.
- Provides customers with foundry-specific MEMS design - which lowers barriers to access, decreases risk, shrinks overall development cost, and speeds the path to commercialization.
- For decades, SPP has used production-proven processes of its high-quality PZT to produce MEMS inertial sensors for the most demanding applications, says Mr. Masahiko Tanaka, managing executive officer, Sumitomo Precision Products.
- To respond to increasing worldwide needs, our foundry expansion through MEMS Infinity broadens our manufacturing capability in PZT MEMS. Together with AMFitzgerald - our choice collaborator for PZT MEMS design and product development - we can deliver an exceptional solution for customer needs in growing markets.
About PZT MEMS
Piezoelectric materials transduce electrical energy to mechanical energy and vice-versa, a property that makes them useful as sensors or actuators. PZT is a piezoelectric material that delivers an optimal combination of performance, efficiency, environmental robustness and high reliability.
These attributes enable PZT MEMS to pack maximum functionality into a small volume for performance-intensive applications, such as ultrasound transceivers, micro-speakers, micro-mirrors, RF switches and microfluidics, as well as emerging technology devices.
For more information: https://www.amfitzgerald.com/pztmems
