Microsystems
Silicon Microstructures (SMI) announced volume production of new lines of ultra-small sensors and co-integrated sensors on 150mm wafers. The company also announced a five times faster etch capability provided by Alcatel's AMS 200 deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) machine that is designed to enable greater device densities per wafer for three-dimensional structures. Enhanced sidewall and diaphragm definitions enable tighter performance specifications.
SMI engineers have begun production of the SM5108 ultra-small pressure sensor. Each 150mm wafer contains 24,000 devices. The 0.65x0.65mm chip is designed for very high-volume applications including tyre pressure monitoring, engine control, barometric pressure sensing, handheld meters and home appliances.
SMI's product team has also readied the SM5201 co-integrated sensor, which combines CMOS/EEPROM signal conditioning with pressure sensing on a single chip. The sensor is targeted at automotive, medical, consumer and industrial markets, from engine control to instrumentation applications. This device takes advantage of the ASIC Plus approach of SMI's parent company Elmos. SMI's SM5106 pressure sensor has been designed into Oceanic Worldwide's Integrated Diver Display Mask (IDDM) heads-up display mask and dive computer system. The IDDM was part of a joint-development project with the US Navy.
The mask contains a miniature liquid crystal display panel, multi-element optics, microprocessor, depth transducer, wireless cylinder pressure receiver, diver replaceable battery and controlling software, built directly into the dive mask. The LCD displays the diver's depth, bottom time and cylinder pressure. It has to remain functional at 100m underwater. Additionally, Silicon Microstructures developed a special metal mask for the pressure sensor that enabled Oceanic to change the pad layouts.
