MEMS for automotive and consumer electronics

Abstract

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are sensing the environmental conditions and give input to electronic control systems. MEMS are miniature systems which usually combine tiny mechanical structures with electronic circuits. Typical MEMS structures have a size of a few micrometers. MEMS sensors make system reactions to human needs more intelligent, precise, and at much faster reaction rates than humanly possible. Today MEMS sensors can be found in nearly every motor vehicle, smart phone or laptop. Due to continuous product innovations, the sensors find their way into more and more applications in automotive and consumer electronics. According to IHS iSuppli an amount of 4.3 billion micromechanical sensors were sold in 2011 with an impressive increase to 9.8 billion sensors in 2015 — a growth rate of 23% per year. These growth rates are only possible with continuous efforts to improve the performance and to decrease the size, power consumption and costs of the sensors. Historicall, these improvements have lead to the breakthrough to industrial mass production for MEMS. This was achieved over the last 20 years by intense and successful development activities combined with the experience of volume production of billions of sensors. Since then, MEMS technology has enabled accelerometers, gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors, barometric pressure sensors, inkjet nozzles or micro-mirrors for Digital-Light Processing (DLP) projection systems. Driving future applications in consumer electronics will be Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), Augmented Reality (AR) and in-door navigation.