MEMS microphones from ST in the price range of electret microphones

ST Micro expanded series of MEMS microphones integrated sensor technology from OMRON3 offer quality audio capture and also prices in the range of electret microphones to replaces electret mics in audio applications such as cell phones, wireless devices and games that respond to voice inputs.

ST says, MEMS microphones are smaller than the compact ECMs and are less susceptible to mechanical vibration, temperature variations and electromagnetic interference, which is important in cell phones and other devices with an audio input such as notebook computers, video recorders, digital cameras, and hearing aids or electronic stethoscopes.

New MEMS microphones offer additional features such as noise suppression and directional voice pickup, useful to determine and filter out irrelevant noise. Such microphone arrays improve noise cancellation and are now made possible with the unique packaging technology used for ST's digital MEMS microphones.

"In the past, microphones were the domain of expert acoustics companies, but now it's time for semiconductor MEMS players to drive the growth of this market. We're aiming to increase the size of the MEMS microphone market by an order of magnitude," said Benedetto Vigna, Group Vice President and General Manager of MEMS and Healthcare Division, STMicroelectronics. "This market can explode only with big and long-term committed suppliers, operating their own leading-edge MEMS fabs. Working together with our Japanese friends, we'll drive the microphone market growth as we have done in motion sensors."

"OMRON is ready to support ST in shortening product development cycles and time-to-volume for high-performance, cost-competitive silicon acoustic devices, accelerating the growth of the MEMS market and the development of new application areas such as voice-enabled gaming, automotive voice systems, acoustic sensors for industry and security applications, and medical telemetry," said Yoshio Sekiguchi, General Manager of Micro Devices Division, Micro Devices Business Development H.Q., OMRON Corporation.

Samples of digital MEMS microphones that integrate ST's electronic control circuit and OMRON's micro-machined sensor in a single package will be available before the end of this year, at less than one dollar for large-volume orders.

For more details visit www.st.com