Invited Paper MS-ThA8
Divergence in N/MEMS and Semiconductor Manufacturing

Thursday, October 18, 2007, 4:20 pm, Room 615

Nano and Micro Electro-mechanical System (N/MEMS) technology seeks to build small devices (nano/milli scale features) using processing equipment similar to that utilized in the semiconductor industry. Because of similarities in scale and equipment, the performance and potential growth of N/MEMS, as an industry, has been often compared to the growth of the semiconductor industry. However, similarity of length scale and fabrication equipment is not sufficient to ensure similar market performance. In fact, the MEMS and semiconductor industry face dramatically different technical and market dynamics that cause one to question whether this comparison can allow one to draw any meaningful conclusions. In this talk, the author will focus on four fundamental differences between N/MEMS and semiconductor industries: (1) difference in scalability (with implications for a "Moores’ Law for MEMS"), (2) difference in process diversity, (3) difference in manufacturing volume, and (4) differences in required fabrication precision (N/MEMS requires higher fabrication precision than semiconductors). These differences suggest that N/MEMS industry faces a fundamentally different set of technical and market constraints than faced by semiconductor industry, and lead one to expect a fundamentally different market evolution. While they do not diminish the fundamental importance of N/MEMS technology, the differences do suggest a need for N/MEMS specific expertise in evaluating and exploiting N/MEMS opportunities, and may suggest a need for a new set of fabrication technologies specifically designed for the N/MEMS markets. DARPA Distribution Statement "A": Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited.