Custom MEMS process development and engineering
Lionix International is a MEMS partner with the capabilities to support every phase of your custom MEMS co-development flow. Custom MEMS process development is our unique strength, meaning we can manufacture a MEMS chip with the exact materials and functionality you require (within process constraints).
After developing your custom process or for customers with an existing process in place we offer a full range of engineering runs to progress your MEMS development through to pre-production and volume production.
Custom MEMS process development
We believe that processes and materials used to create your MEMS chip should be uniquely optimized to solve your problem. We’ve developed a specific methodology – the 8 of continuous process enhancement – that optimizes performance for your MEMS device whilst minimizing risk and development time.
The power of our methodology stems from the hundreds of hours of expertise captured in a library of standard process blocks. These enable us to apply low risk, best practice approaches to meet your custom MEMS design specification.
Where new processes are required, we will not compromise product specifications by trying to fit the manufacturing process into a standard format. With the full range of MEMS foundry technology and processes, we have the expertise to develop a fully customized process to manufacture your product.
When developing new processes to meet your custom MEMS design and manufacturing requirements, we ensure the suitability of these new steps in short loops before moving on to a full engineering run.
Examples of custom MEMS processes include the alloying or adhesion of new materials, a change in parameters to obtain new material properties or a change to an etching process to alter the profile, selectivity or residues of the etch.
Our expertise in complimentary technologies for customized microsystems solutions offer further scope for customized process development. Examples include microfluidics engineering, biofluidics, optofluidics and silicon nitride photonics.
Engineering runs for custom MEMS
An engineering run starts once process development has been completed or if we identify that our standard processes are already best suited to your needs.
We operate different levels of engineering run to suit the maturity of your product:
MEMS Proof-of-concept
A proof-of-concept run confirms that the physics of the MEMS device is sound and that the manufacturing process is feasible. Chips from these wafers are typically used for bench-top demonstrators.
Functional MEMS prototype
At the MEMS prototyping stage we verify design models to ensure the performance you require from your MEMS device is possible and converge on stable design and production process.
As a vertically integrated MEMS foundry we make sure your MEMS chip has the required interfaces and housing for robust and effective operation. Through our expertise in vertical integration and through MEMS co-development we make sure we understand your system parameters and so that your solution delivers the value you expect in a “real-world” environment.
Pilot production
A pilot production run focuses on yield improvement, test optimization, product costs and ramp-up of production volume. In this run, in-process inspection points and final tests including their criteria are anchored . Products resulting from the pilot production run are qualified to be fully assembled end-products used in field tests.
Stand-alone MEMS services and MEMS outsourcing
We offer MEMS services and full MEMS outsourcing for the MEMS development stages detailed above as well as outsourcing for dedicated MEMS production.