Activities of the Micromachine Center

Research Studies and Standardization Activities
1. Survey of Industrial Trends

2. Standardization Activities

In the current fiscal year, the Micromachine Center (MMC)
has conducted surveys on trends in MEMS applications andtrends in MEMS-related businesses for the purpose of studying
trends in the MEMS industry.
As part of its efforts to research trends in businesses, theMMC visited some prominent MEMS-related companies in theU.S. in November of last year. A comparison of the MEMS
industries in Japan and America reveals that in Japan MEMS
business is generally handled by one branch of a large generalcompany, while in the U.S. numerous venture companies areemerging alongside the large manufacturers to handle thecommercialization of MEMS. The goal of this survey was toidentify problems in Japan’s MEMS industry by analyzing factors
in the success of these venture companies and comparing how
large companies in Japan and the U.S. approach MEMS.
The MMC visited the following companies for this survey:
A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, a MEMS product development
consultant; SiTime Corporation, a venture company for MEMS
oscillators; WiSpry, a venture company for RF-MEMS; Freescale
Semiconductor, Inc., a large manufacturer of automotivesensors; Issys Sensor Systems, a venture company for MEMS
and microfluidics applications; Sand9, Inc., a venture company
for MEMS oscillators; and DALSA Corporation, a large MEMS
foundry.
This survey covered all the traditional steps in productdevelopment from the initial idea to the final product, including
research, technological development, prototyping, andcommercialization. Only those products that clear all the hurdles
encountered in the above steps reach commercialization. Whenexamining the development steps employed at the companieswe visited for this survey, it is clear that their approaches differ
in many aspects, but a few of the venture companies sharedcommon approaches and methods of exploiting the infrastructure.
During the idea and research stage, the companies first
conducted sufficient research to identify and predict market
needs before designing a suitable product based on theseneeds. In the steps from technological development toprototyping, the companies require development funds and aninfrastructure for device trial production, but it is not difficult
to obtain assistance in the form of government funding orventure capital. In the U.S., venture companies can takeadvantage of the infrastructure in place at universities, where
they can find MEMS trial production lines suitable for
prototyping (taking the form of indirect assistance from stateand federal governments). These companies also have access to
the wealth of accumulated technologies at the universities.
Similarities were also seen in the approaches of major
corporations in Japan and the U.S. For example, major firms
tend to develop applications based on the element technologies
that they have accumulated over the years and to form allianceswith other companies in order to develop new businesses.
The details of this survey will be compiled in the FY2010
Report on Industrial Trends to be issued at the end of this fiscalyear. For a brief report on the survey’s findings, please visit theWeb site “http://beanspj.cocolog-nifty.com/mems/2010/11/
h22mems-a6dc.html.”

The Subcommittee on MEMS (SC 47F) of the TechnicalCommittee on Semiconductor Devices (TC 47) under theInternational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is
responsible for reviewing
MEMS
internationalstandardization. The SC
47F was invited to the IEC
General Meeting held in
Seattle from October 6
to10, 2010 for TC 47related
committeemeetings and working
View of Seattlegroup conferences.
A total of twenty-five SC 47F-related participants attended
the General Meeting, including eleven from Japan, eight from
Korea, two from China, and one each from Germany, the UnitedStates, Finland, and Brazil. Some key members from China werenot present because their visas were not issued in time.
Four drafts of standard were up for review by thesubcommittee. The subcommittee members determined thatthe “bend- and shear-type test methods of measuring adhesivestrength for MEMS structures” proposed by Japan would
proceed to CDV (Committee Draft for Vote), after reaching
agreement on a revised draft in response to fifteen additionalcomments from Korea. The subcommittee discussed commentson the second CD (Committee Draft) on “test method for linear
thermal expansion coefficients of MEMS materials” proposed byKorea, including one comment from Germany, thirty-six fromJapan, and ten from Korea. However, since the allotted time
was insufficient for presenting a revised draft in response to thecomments, it was decided that a third CD would be drawn up.
The subcommittee reviewed fifteen comments from Germany,eighteen from Japan, and eight from Korea regarding the CD on“forming limit measuring method of metallic film materials.”
Revisions incorporating the comments were approved, and thedocument was advanced to CDV. A New Work Item Proposal(NP) on “bulge test method for measuring mechanicalproperties of thin films” received thirty-two comments fromJapan and five from Korea. The document was advanced to theCD stage after revisions incorporating the comments wereapproved.
During the SC 47F conference, Korea gave a presentation
on two future work items: a method of measuring Poisson’s
ratio of thin films, and a test method for measuring thin film
properties on a flexible substrate.
At the TC 47 conference, the committee discussed a
proposal from Korea to establish an incubation working
group aimed at studying
standardization for newfields, such as energy
harvesting and humanbodycommunicationinterfaces. The committee
agreed to establish anincubation advisory group.
Conference Room3