Background

The MCC Strategic Technology Tour (STT) to Europe in MEMS and Microsystems took place March 21 to April 1, 1999. Represented on the STT team were MCC member companies Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, HRL, Kodak, Nortel Networks, and Texas Instruments.

During the two weeks of the STT benchmarking work in Europe, the MCC team conducted site visits at universities, research institutes, and private-sector firms in Germany (Munich), Switzerland (Neuchatel and Lausanne), France (Grenoble, Valence, and Paris), Belgium (Leuven), and the Netherlands (Eindhoven and Enschede). In addition, team members met with representatives of several professional societies and consulting firms who provided their perspectives on technology and business developments related to MEMS and microsystems.

The organizations our group visited and conducted discussions with were as follows:

Universities and Associated Research Institutes

• EPFL
• TIMA
• MESA Research Institute

National Research Institutes

• Fraunhofer Institute (Munich)
• CEA-LETI
• IMEC

Private Firms

• Siemens (Infineon Technologies)
• CSEM
• CNET (France Telecom)
• Sextant Avionique
• Philips
• Schlumberger
• Daimler Chrysler
• Twente Microproducts

Professional Societies and Consultancies

• VDI/VDE
• YOLE Developpement

This document summarizes the observations and findings of the MCC Strategic Technology Team. A more detailed report describing the findings of the assessment team and developments in Europe in MEMS and microsystems technologies (MST) is being developed by MCC in consultation with members of the team.

For further information, contact Howard Curtis, MCC Global Technology Services (Tel. 512-338-3792; Fax 512-338-3898; E-mail: curtis@mcc.com).

Definition of MEMS and Microsystems in Europe

While the term MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems) is heard frequently in Europe, most of the organizations our group visited prefer "Microsystems" (or the acronym MST -- Microsystems Technology) to define the domain of interest. MST has a somewhat broader meaning than MEMS. While devices fabricated with IC technology which include moving or moveable parts for actuation or sensing are of course included, so are other categories of very compact device types where shape is critical to functionality, including both passive and active devices. The field of MST also includes work that seeks to incorporate such devices into highly compact systems.

A useful operative definition of the scope of MST as understood in Europe was developed by a NEXUS task force in 1998 (see below for a brief description of NEXUS):

"Microstructure products have structures in the micron range and have their technical function provided by the shape of the microstructure. Microsystems combine several microcomponents, optimized as an entire system, to provide one or several specific functions, in many cases including microelectronics. " (Market Analysis for Microsystems, NEXUS Task Force, p. 24)

As evidenced by this definition, microsystems in Europe do not necessarily include integrated circuits, nor are they always monolithically integrated. As this report will show, the European technical community envisions numerous types and varieties of devices and applications for future microsystems in Europe, making them a pervasive influence in many product sectors ranging from automotive and domestic electronics to the medical and pharmaceutical sector.

Pan-European and National Microsystems Programs

The European Commission's science and technology funding programs made a major commitment to the MST domain beginning with the EC's Fourth Framework program (1994-98). On the order of 100 million ECU in EC funding was invested over this four-year period in the MST domain through ESPRIT in information technology and Brite Euram in industrial technology and materials (Given the 50-percent industry matching contribution required of industry participants in most Fourth Framework projects, the overall investment can be estimated at 50 million ECU per year). EC funding supported individual pre-competitive R&D projects, but also the development of several important cross-cutting infrastructure programs, such as Europractice and NEXUS.

• NEXUS (Network of Excellence in Multifunctional Microsystems), established in 1992 with EC funding, is an effort to promote R&D and commercialization of MEMS and microsystems through the creation of a set of coordinated forums for discussion and the exchange of information among researchers and practitioners in the MST field. NEXUS actitivities include market forecasting and technology benchmarking (NEXUS has conducted field assessments for benchmarking purposes in both North America and Asia), the generation of technology roadmaps, the organization of MST-related workshops, and the coordination of standards and proto-standards deliberations, and the dissemination of information through publications and a WWW site (http://www.NEXUS-EMSTO.com). NEXUS has evolved from a largely academic profile in its early years to a more industry-driven orientation today. The current chair of the Executive Board of NEXUS is Gaetan Menozzi of Sextant Avionique, who hosted our team's visit to that firm on March 31.
• Beginning in 1994, NEXUSEAST extended participation in the NEXUS network to include 13 laboratories and companies in Eastern Europe. NEXUSPAN, initiated in early 1995, extends access further to include Russia and other portions of the ex-Soviet Union, including Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The primary coordinator for this extension of NEXUS to the east is Jan Suski of Schlumberger.
• While our team found a range of opinion on the effectiveness of NEXUS among the private-sector firms we visited, consensus exists that the User-Supplier Clubs sponsored by NEXUS do serve a useful function. The User-Supplier Clubs provide a forum for users and suppliers of MEMS and microsystem technology within defined vertical market segments to meet and discuss issues of common interest. Such "Clubs" currently exist in four sectors: Medical & Biomedical, Instrumentation & Process Control, Peripherals & Multimedia, and Aerospace & Geophysics. An effort was made to establish a similar User-Supplier Club in the automotive sector, but this is reported to have failed because of the intense rivalries between European suppliers of MST devices and components to the auto industry.
• Europractice represents a second important aspect of the European infrastructure for MEMS and MST established with EC funding during the period of the EC Fourth Framework (1994-98). The two primary components of Europractice are a set of six Competence Centers, which provide design and expert consulting services to user groups in industry and academia, and five Manufacturing Clusters which make available fabrication capabilities in a range of technology regimes including CMOS, BiCMOS, and GaAs. Europractice supports the design and fabrication of ASICs, and MCMs (multi-chip modules), as well as MEMS and other microsystems.
• Among nationally funded European R&D programs in MEMS and MST, which exist in parallel with the EC-level activities, the strongest are in Germany, Switzerland, and France. Germany's investment in MEMS/MST R&D for 1998 has been estimated at $US60 million, with an additional $US90 million over five years for nanotechnology work. While the mission of the national research institute CEA in France was orginally tied to defense and the nuclear power industry, researchers in microelectronics and MST at CEA-LETI have established strong ties to the electronics industry; LETI was uniformly acknowledged by members of our assessment team to be a center of excellence in MEMS and MST research. In Switzerland, which invests approximately $US 9 million per year in microsystems R&D through a national program called MINAST, CSEM -- which is subsidized by the Swiss government -- plays a major role in commercializing MEMS and MST technology.
• In providing input to the high-level findings of this Strategic Technology Tour, several members of the MCC team commented that Europe, through both EC-funded and national efforts, was growing "very organized" in MEMS and MST and that the U.S. needs to take notice.
• While the major EC funding initiatives have a unifying effect, considerable variation remains among individual European countries in the parcticulars and points of emphasis of R&D in MEMS and MST. Germany, for instance, demonstrates a strong emphasis on automotive and medical applications, with a relatively decentralized approach. In France, there is a greater sense of centralized direction in the nationally funded R&D program, with the strong program at CEA-LETI a critical piece of the overall R&D and commercialization strategy. The direction of microsystems work in Switzerland, on the other hand, is clearly influenced by the capabilities of the Swiss watch industry.

MEMS/Microsystems Infrastructure: Universities and Research Institutes

When the MCC team planned the itinerary for the Strategic Technology Tour in MEMS and Microsystems, we decided to favor site visits to industry players over those to universities. We did, however, visit with university research groups at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland), TIMA (Grenoble, France), and the Mesa Research Institute (Leuven, Belgium). As it turned out, the university visits were extremely valuable and informative, both from the standpoint of the research under way at the universities and from the perspective that these visits gave our group on activity in European industry. Among our primary observations were:

• The level of interaction between the university programs we visited (EPFL in Switzerland, TIMA in France, and the Mesa Research Institute in the Netherlands) and European industry was impressive. In each case, our group saw convincing instances of graduate student research work that was sponsored by industry partners and tightly coupled to industry requirements. Examples include projects in flame and heat sensing at EPFL, in the development of sensors for use in harsh environments in oil and gas exploration at TIMA, and in micromechanical systems for acoustics at MESA.
• All university programs the MCC team visited reported industry funding of at least 25 percent of their overall R&D budget, and in several cases the figure was much higher.
• Although highly impressive for its applications focus, the level of commitment of graduate research in the universities visited to industry-defined projects was such as to cause our team to question whether perhaps the university-industry linkage had reached a level that makes it difficult for graduate students to embark on longer-term exploratory or theoretical research projects.
• The nationally funded research institutes which our team visited (the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, CEA-LETI in France, and IMEC in Belgium) all demonstrated strong linkages with industry sponsors similar to those of the universities, as well as structural efforts to spin-out technology into commercially viable ventures (Tronics, a venture business which has emerged from LETI's work in MEMS and microsystems is a particularly good example of the latter).

MEMS/Microsystems Infrastructure: Technical

Prior to the conduct of the STT, our team identified design and modeling tools, testing and reliability, and packaging for MEMS and MST as three of the primary infrastructure areas we wanted to investigate. Information on these topics was relatively scant, but sufficient to support several high-level observations, as follows.

• In the area of design software, almost every research group our team visited uses ANSYS for finite element modelling and the simulation of MEMS/MST devices. Specialized software packages, such as MEMCAD from Microcosm or the MEMSCAP design software for MEMS originally developed at TIMA, is also witnessing incipient use.
• Access to fabrication services for MEMS/MST is supported by the five Manufacturing Clusters sponsored by Europractice, and by a MOSIS-like service called CMP (Circuits Multi-Projets) that is operated by TIMA in France. Such venture businesses as Twente Microproducts and Tronics are also specializing in coordinating design and fabrication services for technology users who wish to prototype MEMS devices or microsystems for exploratory use in their applications. Public investment has had major impact in this area.
• A key interest area defined in advance of the Strategic Technology Tour by our MCC team was that of MEMS/MST reliability: What are European research groups doing to assess the reliability of MEMS/MST devices and systems for particular applications? What testing techniques are in widest use? What metrics are being established as the basis for assessment of MEMS/MST reliability? (It was frequently noted in discussion that the integrated circuit industry had to address similar questions in the 1970s, and its success in doing so has served as an important element in the foundation for success in the industry). In general, the answers to our questions about MEMS/MST reliability were vague and did not convey the impression that this was a key focus of the R&D groups. Most device researchers are looking to the users of MEMS/MST device technology to define reliability specifications, based on application requirements, but it is not clear that the user community is moving forward with this process of definition. Of the groups we visited, TIMA has the most highly articulated definition of what needs to be done in the field of MEMS/MST reliability, and a vision of how to proceed, based on the prior model of the IC industry, but actual research work remains staffed at minimal levels.
• On the MST user side, Schlumberger gave our team a well-defined account of their reliability requirements for MEMS devices and microsystems intended for use in oil and gas exploration. Within the Europractice network, Sintef (Norway), VTT (Finland), and NMRC (Ireland) are the primary organizations offering services in the testing and reliability field. The fact that our team did not visit any of these three may have impacted our view of work in MEMS reliability. This represents an area where follow-up investigation may be warranted.
• In the area of MEMS and MST packaging, the most impressive work described to our team was found at CEA-LETI in France. Much of the packaging work for micro systems in progress at individual European firms is reported to be based on company-specific approaches, and is often treated as proprietary and as a potential source of competitive advantage in the marketplace. Lack of standard, open packaging may, however, retard the commercial acceptance of MEMS and MST by the user community in Europe (Note that North America shares this potential problem).

Device Technologies: The State of the Art

On a worldwide basis, MEMS devices or microsystems which have successfully established high-volume commercial markets include accelerometers and pressure sensors for automotive applications, inkjet print heads, and digital micro-mirrors for image projection. The automotive MEMS supplier group has strong European representation by companies such as Bosch, TEMIC, SensoNor, and VTI-Hamlin, all of which are major players in this market. The other two device classes are mostly supplied by U.S. and Japanese companies, government laboratories, and universities pursuing new and emerging technologies and applications, in order to find out about the future of MEMS and microsystems in Europe.

• Among the institutions and companies the MCC team visited in central Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands) the device classes being pursued mostly fell into the following categories:
• Fluidic MEMS: The majority of sites visited had a significant level of effort in fluidic devices such as pneumatic valves, membrane pumps, chemical reactors, and flow and pressure sensors. The application targets range from medical, biological, to pharmaceutical and chemical. Miniaturization here increases portability, reduces cost, increases accuracy, reduces the amount of chemical or biological sample material required for analysis, and also decreases measurement time.
• Mechanical Transducers: With major applications and markets already established in this device class, the work in the research and development laboratories we visited focuses on further integration for cost reduction, including work with side-impact sensors, or specialty application niches with less price pressure, ranging from instrumentation, aeronautics, and down-hole sensing for drilliing equipment, to medical patient monitoring. Most of the sites we visited continue to work in this class of devices.
• Optical MEMS: Some of the laboratories visited are working on micro-opto-electro-mechanical devices such as micromirrors for scanning or imaging applications, temperature IR sensors as well as miniaturized devices such as connectors and switches for fiber applications.
• Electrical MEMS Switches: Several European groups are competing in this area, with Siemens leading the way towards commercialization.
• Others: Many of the laboratories visited presented work on passive miniaturized components without any moving part such as integrated inductors, magnetic devices, trench capacitors, ISFETs, etc.
• Device technology areas where the MCC team did not see evidence of significant level of activity are fuel cells, micro-motors, and wireless communication (RF/microwave), although Europe is said to have a significant amount of activity in progress in the RF/microwave area.
• The process and device technologies used in these efforts include all approaches and a variety of materials. The European microsystems community is pragmatic in the ways it approaches miniaturization; they are not partisan to a particular process or technology but usually have a variety of process capabilities at their disposal, either internally or through collaboration within the European and national programs. They focus on the goals (products), not the means (processes) to achieve them. This having been said, there appears to be much work in progress in Europe on high-aspect ratio devices through processes such as deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and LIGA-like processes.
• Silicon micromachining is only one of the tools employed in the quest for miniaturization. Our team heard of work on polymers, glass, even metals. CMOS-based research centers (such as IMEC, the University of Delft, or Siemens/Infineon) are naturally approaching the microsystems field from the point of view of enhancing the integrated circuit capabilities through back-end micromachining and forming an integrated, low-cost device. However, the majority of the institutions visited which do not have the silicon CMOS focus place less emphasis on silicon integration, as they are targeting small to medium volume applications, such as medical applications, with less restrictive cost constraints.
• In summary, the focus in the European microsystems community is on device and system miniaturization using the process and material that fulfills a given application requirement. The device domains receiving the greatest attention in Europe appear to be those that are relatively simple, and that have limited requirements for movement. The push is toward simple miniaturized devices which provide incremental performance advantages over their traditional counterparts, not revolutionary new concepts and break-through applications. There is a large amount of work going on in the micro-fluidics area with medical, biological, and chemical applications targeted as the next area where microsystems will move into commercial markets.

Market Forecasts for MEMS and Microsystems

NEXUS concluded a major market study for MEMS/MST in fall 1998, which has been released under the title Market Analysis for Microsystems: 1996-2002. Among the salient findings and predictions are:

• The overall worldwide market for MST devices and subsystems will grow from $US14.4 billion in 1996, to $US21 billion in 1999, to $US38 billion in 2002 (all figures in 1997 dollars). The overall average growth rate will be 18 percent per year over this period.
• The three largest established commercial markets for MEMS/MST devices -- hard disk drive heads, inkjet printheads, and cardiac pacemakers -- will remain the leaders in 2002, but other markets will grow rapidly. In 2002, the top seven markets for MEMS/MST-based devices and subsystems will be hard disk drive heads ($US12.0 billion), inkjet printheads ($US10.0 billion), heart pacemakers ($US3.7 billion), invitro diagnostic devices ($US2.8 billion), hearing aids ($2.0 billion), pressure sensors ($US1.3 billion), and chemical sensors ($US800 million).
• The study broke MEMS/MST markets down into six major application domains: IT peripherals, Medical/biomedical, Industry & automation (including aerospace applications), Telecommunications, Automotive, and Environmental Monitoring. Of these, the first two, which were the leaders on a revenue basis in 1996 ($US8.6 billion for IT peripherals and $US2.8 billion for medical/biomedical) will increase their dominance in 2002, with the IT peripherals sector growing to $US21.7 billion and medical/biomedical to $10.7 billion. In 2002, the other major application domains will stand at $US1.6 billion for industry and automotive, $US2.0 billion for telecommunications, $US860 million for automotive (although the number of individual devices sold will be very large), and $US800 million for environmental monitoring. The study does note that the telecommunications application domain could grow rapidly after 2002.
• The NEXUS study made an explicit effort to forecast emerging as well as established markets for MEMS/MST. Three such emerging markets are predicted to be $US1 billion sectors by 2002: drug-delivery systems; optical switches; and lab-on-chip systems. Other emerging markets that will account for between $US80 million and $US500 million in annual revenues will be magneto optical heads; projection light valves; coil-on-chip; micro-relays; and micro-motors.

It should be noted that the NEXUS market study was undertaken by a group of influential industry figures in MEMS/MST, with little external representation. To some degree, the findings may reflect the inherent optimism of these players.

Application and Commercialization Trends

As in North America, the commercial evolution of MEMS and microsystems technology has reached something of a plateau. Initial commercialization in certain application domains such as IT peripherals (particularly ink-jet printers and hard disk drive read-write heads), automotive (accelerometers for air bag activivation), and medicine (pacemakers and hearing aids) are well established. New applications are forecast, but in many instances are being held back by competition with existing technology regimes, or by inadequate infrastructure, in areas such as testing and reliability methods and metrics. There is a sense that a new "big hit" is needed, but little agreement on where it will emerge.

• Commercialization activity around MEMS and MST has spawned a level of start-up and entrepreneurial activity that is still uncommon in Europe in other technology domains. Much of this activity derives from efforts to get promising technology out of the laboratories of universities and research institutes and into the commercial marketplace. Twente Microproducts in the Netherlands, for example, provides design and fabrication services in MST that leverage both the research capabilities of the Mesa Research Institute (from which Twente Microproducts emerged) and fabrication capabilities at Philips. Tronics, based in Grenoble, France, seeks to commercialize technology developed at LETI, a major nationally funded French research institute. MEMSCAP, a vendor of MEMS design software also located in Grenoble, is led by the ex-director of a research group at TIMA; the company's design software product suite derives directly from work performed earlier at TIMA.
• Despite the large EC investment in MST research-and-development over the past five years and the optimistic predictions for future market growth, large European electronics firms are taking a cautious, incremental approach to commercialization. Commercial work at Siemens (now the semiconductor spin-off Infineon) is largely focused on accelerometers and sensors for automotive applications, with prototype work under way in security-related applications of MEMS sensors, such as fingerprint identification. At Philips in Eindhoven, while our hosts presented interesting results from their efforts in CMOS fabrication technologies, there was little apparent activity in MEMS and MST per se.
• In assessing the posture of the large European electronics firms, one of our team members commented that they do not seem to be seeking the "killer app," but are rather working to accomplish smaller, incremental wins. The research institutes and the spin-outs they have spawned, however, are engaged in a set of technology-push activities that seek to establish markets for emerging device and design technologies.