ST's MEMS fab available for researchers for prototyping their designs

ST has announced its THELMA MEMS manufacturing process, the process ST uses for its popular accelerometers and gyroscopes is now available for prototyping to universities, research labs and design companies through the silicon brokerage services provided by CMP. ST is releasing this process technology to third parties as a prototyping and foundry service to encourage new developments in motion-sensing applications for consumer, automotive, industrial and healthcare markets. ST has shipped billion of MEMS by using its own MEMS fab facilities. The 0.8-micron, surface micro-machining THELMA (Thick Epitaxial Layer for Micro-gyroscopes and Accelerometers) process combines variably thick and thin poly-silicon layers for structures and interconnections. This enables the integration of linear and angular mechanical elements in a single chip, delivering significant cost and size benefits to customers, says ST. The CMP multi-project wafer service allows organizations to obtain small quantities--typically from a few dozens to a few thousand units--of advanced ICs manufactured using the same process technologies as would be used on much higher-volume products. The THELMA process design rules and design kits are now available for universities and microelectronics companies and the first requests are already being answered. The introduction of ST’s MEMS manufacturing process in CMP’...