TechBlog

Nanophotonics is living up to the hype. The study of light on the nanoscale might have been a ‘buzzword’ within optics circles a couple of years ago, but this tiny science is now moving away from the world of theoretical science and new research facilities are popping up in laboratories around the world.

And, with it, nanophotonics brings a myriad of new nano-prefixed buzzwords, including nanocapacitors, nanoforests, nanorice and nanoshells. But the real buzz is around the applications that using light as a tool on the submicron scale could open up.

Continue reading ‘Nanophotonics is moving out of the computational simulations and taking over the labs’ »

The all new MEMS G50Z High Performance Single Axis Gyro is a MEMS Rate Sensor with both excellent bias over temperature and low noise. Designed for commercial stabilization and aircraft applications, the unit utilizes standard +5V DC power and has a voltage output. The -200 model features a +/- VSG compatible signal.

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The all new A30 MEMS High Performance Single Axis Accelerometer offers excellent bias with a small light weight form factor and low power. Designed for commercial stabilization and aircraft applications, the unit utilizes standard +5V DC power and has a voltage output.

• Low Cost & High Performance MEMS Single Axis Accelerometer
• Excellent Bias ? 1mg
• Bias Repeatability ? 2.5mg
• Axis Alignment <15mrad
• Low Power < 5 mA Typical
• Light Weight < 10 grams
• Low Voltage +5V (single sided power)
• Bandwidth 40Hz / 100Hz
• Voltage Output
• Reference Voltage
• Internal Temperature Sensor
• Self Test
• Shock Resistant 500g
• Long Life

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The all new LandMark20 MEMS GPS/AHRS is an ultra low power combined digital Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) that provides internally temperature compensated RS485 output of delta velocity, delta theta, heading, pitch and roll angle and altitude information and a 16 channel C/A code GPS receiver with 10Hz position update rate.

A complete turnkey software development kit with advanced features including direct PC interface, data recording, bandwidth and output rate selection is also available.A complete turnkey software development kit with advanced features including direct PC interface, data recording, bandwidth, output rate selection and GPS is also available.

Continue reading ‘MEMS LandMark20 GPS/AHRS - Low Noise AHRS with GPS’ »

Gnat-sized robots, microscopic gyroscopes, television beamed directly onto your retina. This may sound like a grocery list for a crazed sci-fi visionary. But all these projects are in the works today, thanks to an emerging chip technology known as microelectromechanical systems. While magical microbots may still be a few years away, MEMS are already a multibillion-dollar business in the car, printer, and display-projection industries.

Traditional chips are flat, static structures. MEMS, by contrast, are silicon wafers packed with kinetic, three-dimensional gizmos: laboratories, laser-guided mirrors, canals flowing with chemicals. An offshoot of the semiconductor industry, MEMS benefit from the well-known peculiarities of the silicon universe - every year chips get tinier, cheaper, and faster.

Continue reading ‘As the MEMS Revolution Takes Off, Small Is Getting Bigger Every Day’ »

SiC MEMS Pressure Sensors: Technology, Applications and Markets

Silicon Carbide: Material Platform for Harsh Environment Solutions Silicon carbide (SiC) has been used for many conventional applications that require mechanical and chemical stability at high temperatures. Mechanical stability is defined as the ability of a particular material to preserve its mechanical properties – elasticity, fracture toughness, hardness – at temperatures below and above room temperature.

Chemical stability is similarly defined as the ability of a particular material to preserve its composition at temperatures below and above room temperature. For high temperature applications, mechanical properties tend to deteriorate and chemical stability is compromised as corrosion processes occur.

Any material that can overcome these mechanical and chemical limitations becomes a candidate for what are called “harsh environment” applications. Harsh environment means a combination of media properties that can interact with the exposed material and alter its originally intended behavior. Harsh environments can be classified in three broad categories: 1) mechanically aggressive: high loads, vibration, shock; 2) thermally aggressive: high temperature; and 3) chemically aggressive: corrosive media.

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The all new LandMark20 MEMS IMU is a silicon low noise digital Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that provides internally temperature compensated RS485 output of delta velocity and delta theta.
Features:

• Low Noise Silicon MEMS Digital IMU
• Low Gyro Noise 0.028º/sec/?Hz
• Fully Temperature Compensated Bias and Scale Factor
• Compensated G-Sensitivity and Misalignment
• In Run Gyro Bias 6° to 60°/hour typical
• Low Power < 1/2 watt typical
• Light Weight 113 grams
• Small Size < 67.5cm3/4.1in3
• Low Voltage +3.0 to 4.2V (single sided power)
• Bandwidth 100 Hz (user selectable)
• RS485 Output 200 Hz (user selectable)
• Bandwidth Filtering Capability
• Vibration Isolation
• Precision Alignment
• 3 Internal Temp. Sensors
• Self Test
• Shock Resistant
• Long Life
• Export Classification: Commerce ECCN7A994 Pending

The LandMark20 IMU is ideal for applications requiring improved performance MEMS gyros, but also needing ultra low power consumption, small size, light weight and no inherent wear out modes for long life. The signature feature of the LandMark20 IMU is the improved gyro performance. The low noise gyros enable precision measurement and improved in-run and bias over temperature. The IMU’s performance is optimized with fully temperature compensated bias and scale factor and compensated misalighnment and g-sensitivity. The rate outputs are free from bias steps and linear outputs are without acceleration hysteresis. The unit is highly durable and can withstand environmental vibration and shock typically associated with commerical aircraft requirements.

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Mems- Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems from Universal Semiconductor, Inc. USI offers rugged, miniature, and high sensitivity MEMS process capability for manufacture of sensors, transducers, switches, mirrors, and many diverse special custom designed products that go into wide ranging applications from medical to aerospace.

The MEMS integrated sensor chip can be readily combined with a signal conditioning circuitry chip for amplification, offset compensation, linearity improvement, and temperature compensation. All parameters for amplification, offset compensation, linearity improvement, and temperature compensation are stored in an internal EEPROM. No additional components required, simplifies incorporation in to existing systems.

Features: Continue reading ‘Mems- Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems’ »

The Nintendo Wii’s use of a MEMS-enabled motion controller and the Apple iPhone’s use of accelerometers to change the display from horizontal to vertical are examples of how MEMS are creating new ways for people to interact with electronic devices. They illustrate the continued expansion of MEMS technology from its beginnings in the automotive and industrial markets to applications that include energy harvesting, wireless communications, “smart homes,” and biomedical.

Big numbersAccording to the analyst group Yole Développement, the market was worth $5.8 billion in 2006 and will grow to $10.7 billion by 2011. The leading MEMS application, inkjet heads, is followed closely by sensors for airbag deployment and tire inflation monitoring. Texas Instruments (TI) makes Digital Light Processing (DLP) MEMS for computer displays as well as for digital projection. Wicht Technologie Consulting says that TI was the top MEMS manufacturer in 2006, with $905 million in revenues. TI has reportedly shipped more than 10 million DLP sub-systems since 1996.

While MEMS technology is about more than high-volume production, others have been similarly successful with mass production. ST Microelectronics’ 3-axis accelerometer is the enabling force within Nintendo’s Wii, and Analog Devices says it has shipped more than 250 million MEMS accelerometers for automotive, consumer, and industrial applications.

Continue reading ‘MEMS is moving. Here’s where.’ »

Engineers and researchers designing and building new microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) can benefit from a new test method developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to measure a key mechanical property of such systems: elasticity. The new method determines the “Young’s modulus” of thin films not only for MEMS devices but also for semiconductor devices in integrated circuits.

Since 1727, scientists and engineers have used Young’s modulus as a measure of the stiffness of a given material. Defined as the ratio of stress (such as the force per unit area pushing on both ends of a beam) to strain (the amount the beam is deflected), Young’s modulus allows the behavior of a material under load to be calculated. Young’s modulus predicts the length a wire will stretch under tension or the amount of compression that will buckle a thin film. A standard method to determine this important parameter — a necessity to ensure that measurements of Young’s modulus made at different locations are comparable — has eluded those who design, manufacture and test MEMS devices, particularly in the semiconductor industry.

A team at NIST recently led the effort to develop SEMI Standard MS4-1107, “Test Method for Young’s Modulus Measurements of Thin, Reflecting Films Based on the Frequency of Beams in Resonance.” The new standard applies to thin films (such as those found in MEMS materials) that can be imaged using an optical vibrometer or comparable instrument for non-contact measurements of surface motion. In particular, measurements are obtained from resonating beams — comprised of the thin film layer — that oscillate out-of-plane. The frequency at which the maximum amplitude (or velocity) of vibration is achieved is a resonance frequency, which is used to calculate the Young’s modulus of the thin film layer. The group also developed a special Web-based “MEMS calculator”  (http:// www.eeel.nist.gov/812/test-structures/MEMSCalculator.htm) that can be used to determine specific thin film properties from data taken with an optical interferometer.

Continue reading ‘NIST Develops Test Method For Key Micromechanical Property’ »