Though still in its infancy, MEMS (microelectromechan-ical systems) technology is more than a vision ― it is a reality. Reed Business Information's In-Stat Group reported a total market volume of more than $4B in 2001 for MEMS devices, predominantly for sensors and display devices. It estimates that this market will grow to $12B by 2005. One untapped area of potential promise for this technology is in the fast-growing arena of rf applications. Although the total current market for rf MEMS devices is less than $1M, In-Stat estimates that it will grow to more than $350M in the next five years. The use of micromachining ― etching macro structures in silicon ― has already been applied to fabricating integrated passives. By etching around the sides of spiral inductor elements, for example, potentially lossy dielectric can be removed and the Q of filters significantly increased. Integrated passives fabricated with micromachining will play an important role in increasing the integration level of rf devices, moving toward the goal of the single-chip rfsystem-on-a-chip.
展开▼
