STMicro sets up ‘Lab-in-Fab’ to advance adoption of piezoelectric MEMS

This “Lab-in-Fab” R&D line brings together three powerful partners and complementary competencies in Piezo materials, Piezo MEMS technologies, and wafer-fab tools aiming to boost innovation and accelerate development of new materials, process technologies, and ultimately, products for industry customers. The Lab-in-Fab consists of a new cleanroom area within ST’s Ang Mo Kio campus and will host tools and dedicated resources from the three parties, which include MEMS R&D and process scientists and engineers, a press release reads. IME’s knowledge base and industrial drive in piezo-MEMS device design, process integration, and system integration will add value to the development of the line. IME will also contribute tools to help ensure a smooth product flow through to production, all within the same location. The new R&D line will also leverage existing ST resources, benefiting from the economies of scale of ST’s wafer fabs on the same campus. The new Lab-in-Fab facility is forecasted to be ready and operational with first wafers in Q2 2021 and volume production at the end of 2022. “We want to build the world’s leading R&D center for Piezo MEMS materials, technologies, and products with IME and ULVAC, with whom we have been working for a long time. This world first will be hosted in our Singapore site, a strategic location for ST,” says Benedetto Vigna, President, Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group, STMicroelectronics, in the press release. “The Lab-in-Fab will offer our customers the capability to more easily go from a feasibility study to product development and high-volume manufacturing.” This collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of Piezo MEMS actuators in promising new fields of application, including MEMS Mirrors for Smart Glasses, AR Headsets and LIDAR systems, Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (PMUT) for emerging medical applications, and Piezo Heads for Commercial and industrial 3-D Printing. “The public-private partnership between IME, ST and ULVAC has led to the creation of a unique R&D line, which will bring about novel products using piezo materials, and boost the competitiveness of our partners. These efforts will continue to anchor high-value R&D activities in Singapore and demonstrate that Singapore continues to be an attractive environment for industry leaders to innovate and grow their businesses. A*STAR is also committed to helping local SMEs tap into our technologies. We welcome companies to collaborate with IME and leverage our Lab-in-Fab facilities for proof of concept,” adds Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director of IME.