Leveraging Semiconductor Eco-systems to MEMS

W. Fang (National Tsing Hua Univ., Taiwan)

Taiwan, with a population of nearly 23 million and an area of 36,000 km², is highly active in the semiconductor industry and research, particularly in Hsinchu City where National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) is located. The faculty and students at NTHU frequently and closely interact with the semiconductor industry. This talk shares the experience of the speaker’s group at the NTHU in leveraging Taiwan's extensive semiconductor resources to advance MEMS technologies through four stages: 1. Using CMOS-MEMS technology as a bridge to connect with the semiconductor industry. 2. Addressing various mechanical challenges in thin films to showcase promising CMOS-MEMS applications. 3. Demonstrating the benefits of MEMS-on-CMOS technology within foundries, highlighting successful collaborations between MEMS and semiconductor technologies. 4. Exploring new functional materials for MEMS driven by potential applications in Smart-X and the Metaverse, as semiconductor industries develop new processes. In conclusions, it is a win-win strategy between academia/research and industry/market to leverage the resources in mature semiconductor ecosystems for the development and commercialization of MEMS.