MEMS roadmap and iNEMI initiatives

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are mechanical sensors and actuators that are fabricated using techniques similar to those used for integrated circuits. They are micrometer-sized mechanical structures, such as cantilevers, combs, membranes, and channels that are often integrated with logic circuitry. MEMS can act as sensors, receiving information from their environment, or as actuators, responding to a decision from the control system to change the environment. iNEMI (International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, Inc.) has been developing a roadmap of technology and business evolution and gaps for MEMS for 5 years. An in depth look at the roadmap of MEMS requirements for the next 10 years, indicated it was time to engage key industry players and as a result led to iNEMI holding two workshops. Feedback from these workshops led to two iNEMI two collaborative projects in MEMS. One project addresses the lack of an optimized reliability testing methodology and the second collaborative project is addressing the development of data sheet specifications for testing of inertial sensors. Additionally, iNEMI has a third team that is working on defining key opportunities that will help enable the rapid growth of MEMS manufacturing in the next 10 years. This paper introduces the iNEMI roadmap on MEMS and the collaborative projects.