System Plus Consulting analyzed a BAW MEMS Filter manufactured by Avago Technologies, assessing its manufacturing process, costing results and breakdown. With more than 1 billion units produced per year and a market share of 65%, System Plus Consulting found that Avago Technologies clearly dominates the BAW filter market. Avago BAW filters are all-silicon MEMS devices manufactured with Avago's FBAR and Microcap technologies.

Avago ACMD-7612 Duplexer

(Courtesy of System Plus Consulting)

The ACMD-7612 is targeted for handsets or data terminals operating in the UMTS Band I frequency range and features a Maximum RF Input Power to Tx Port of ±33 dBm.

Manufacturing process

Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FBAR) is a silicon-based MEMS technology which uses AlN piezoelectric material for resonating layers. It allows creating structures with higher Q than surface acoustic wave (SAW) structures for most cellular frequency bands.

Microcap corresponds to the wafer level packaging process of the FBAR filters. The microcap process uses gold plated Through Silicon Vias (TSV) in the cap to report electrical contacts (and thus reduce filter dies size) and gold-gold thermo-compression wafer bonding to ensure an hermetic sealing.

MEMS Filter Cross-section

(Courtesy of System Plus Consulting)

Costing results

Filter dies are manufactured on high resistivity 6-inch wafers in Avago’s Fort Collins wafer fab. With more than 20,000 potential good dies per wafer, the manufacturing cost of a filter die is estimated to be in the range of 5¢.

MEMS Filter Wafer cost breakdown

(Courtesy of System Plus Consulting)

The full reverse costing report combining technological analysis of the devices and detailed manufacturing cost is already available.

System Plus Consulting develops costing tools and performs on demand reverse costing studies of semiconductors - from integrated circuits to power devices, from single chip packages to MEMS and multi-chip modules – and of electronic boards and systems.