Toward the Popularization of Foundry Services and the Broad-Based Expansion of MEMS Industries
Kazushi Tomii, Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.
Chair, Foundry Service Industries Committee, MEMS Industry ForumOf these, (1) common liaison plays the role of contact
point between the users and foundries, leading toincreased foundry use on the part of users. In terms of(2) publicity and educational activities, workshops areheld twice a year, and these have been particularly wellreceived by engineers who have had little experience
with foundry services. We will continue to hold theseworkshops and update their content.
The Committee is also helping to promote theMemsONE design and analysis tool in (3), in order tocreate an environment in which it is easier to use
foundries from a process perspective. With regard to (4),studies into the creation of a mechanism to enable rapid,
low-cost prototyping are underway, with the aim ofachieving broad-based expansion of MEMS industries.

1. Introduction
MEMS industries are currently in transition,
moving from their period of initial start-up to a periodof expansion. From now on, greater and greater speed
will be required for product development and creation
along with the expansion of the market for MEMS
products. As a result, foundries will play an even more
important role from the stage of initial development
through mass production.
For the past five years, the Foundry Service
Industries Committee in the MEMS Industry Forumhas actively worked to create a unique Japanese
network, with the aim of expanding MEMS industries
through foundry services. This article will introduce
the achievements of these activities and discuss issues
that remain to be resolved.

3. Future challenges and efforts
Through these activities, the Committee had beenable to provide users with a certain amount of
information from foundries, increasing the level of userawareness with regard to foundries. Future efforts will
aim to further increase use in order to achieve a broadbased expansion of MEMS industries overall. However,there are thought to be limits to the company-centeredefforts that have been conducted up to now. This isbecause, unlike semiconductors, there is no standardized
process and design environment for MEMS., As a result,mismatches are produced between users andmanufacturers in terms of specifications, costs and soon. This occurs particularly when small and mediumsized companies and venture companies pursue
development and prototyping. In order to resolve thisproblem, a mechanism to link users and foundrycompanies is thought to be needed in order to provide asmooth path to mass production. In a survey of MEMS
foundries conducted in the past by the Micromachine
Center, too, many respondents expressed the opinion
that the national government should work to build a
network to accelerate the process from development tocommercial application.
The Committee has just initiated a study of thepossibility of creating ready-made processes andcommon guidelines on the foundry side, as one phase of
the effort to promote the dissemination of MemsONE.
The Committee also plans to actively pursue theexchange of information with public research institutions
and local publicly-run trials in order to form a MEMS
network. If this mechanism can function on the practicallevel as a network system, it will accelerate the processof creating new MEMS on the part of small and mediumsized companies and venture companies, from thedevelopment and prototyping stage to the mass
production stage, resulting in broad-based expansion of
MEMS industries.

2. Activities of the Foundry Service Industries
Committee
The Foundry Service Industries Committee began its
activities in 2002 within the Micromachine Center. The
Committee has held regular discussions on common
issues faced by MEMS foundries, and its activities havecentered on public relations targeting MEMS foundryusers. At present, the Committee is made up of 11
diverse companies and organizations involved with MEMS
foundries. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 Members of the Foundry Service Industries Committee

Below are the major activities that have been
conducted, centering on the Foundry Service Industries
Committee:(1) Common liaison for foundry services(2) Educational activities (MEMS workshops, etc.) andjoint PR activities(3) Activities to promote MemsONE (MEMS design andanalysis tool)(4) Study for the purpose of broad-based expansion ofMEMS industries

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