September 26, 2012 - X-Fab Silicon Foundries says it will invest more than $50M over the next three years in cleanroom space, equipment, R&D, and staff for its microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) operations, reflecting an anticipated growth in MEMS services as the company.
The move will consolidate all the company's MEMS business and activities, rebranded as X-Fab MEMS Foundry, on the company's campus in Erfurt, Germany. It's the "next step towards our goal of becoming one of the top three worldwide suppliers of MEMS foundry services," according to CEO Rudi De Winter. [X-Fab placed 10th in Yole Développement's 2011 MEMS foundry rankings, surging 33% to roughly $16M in revenues, about $31M shy of No.3 Silex Microsystems -- but only $8M away from fifth-place IMT.]
"The MEMS sector is a strategic field of X-FAB’s overall activities to serve the growing needs of our customers," De Winter noted in a statement. "Our customers will benefit from the dedicated resources and expertise of a foundry focused solely on advanced MEMS technology, and built on X-FAB’s solid foundation of technical excellence."
Among X-Fab's company's recent MEMS accomplishments:
- The first open-platform MEMS 3D inertial sensor process available directly from a high-volume pure-play foundry;
- Completion of a dedicated noble metal facility for MEMS;
- Produced MicroGen Systems' first MEMS energy harvesters;
- 200mm MEMS capabilities;
- High-volume manufacturing of bulk and surface micromachined technologies, with and without CMOS integration;
- In-house technology platforms for mainstream MEMS applications such as pressure sensors, inertial sensors and infrared sensors; and
- Ready-to-use IP design blocks for MEMS accelerometers.
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