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Research > Microsystems, Components and Packaging

The Microsystems, Components and Packaging Division (MCP) at IMEC, is involved in research that ranges from fundamental materials and device processing, to that of the integration and packaging of functional sub-systems, modules and systems.

The activities are driven by the long term vision of fulfilling the potential needs and requirements of tomorrow's world of ambient intelligence, 2D imaging devices, renewable energy systems and power electronics. Functional prototype demonstrators for different system application are developed with an eye towards potential ease of manufacturing and their ability to lead to small business initiatives and entrepreneurial start-ups.

High purity metals, Si, Ge and III-V semiconductors, dielectrics, organic polymers, oly-gomers and bio- molecules are synthesized and their corresponding properties are studied in thin film or as artificial combinations of thin film stacks. The synthesis facilities include various physical vapour (sputtering and electron beam) deposition systems for the deposition dielectrics, metals and Si/Ge, evaporation and electro-depostion systems for metals, and sophisticated ultra high vacuum Molecular Beam Epitaxy (three MBE systems) for depositing III-Arsenides, III-Antimonides and magnetic metals, Metal organic vapour chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD -three reactors) for III-Nitrides and III-Phospides and Organic-MBE for evaporation of organic materials.

A fully equipped clean-room allows the development of prototype components or complete circuits in various technologies. Materials and prototype devices are can be characterized by various high speed optical and electroluminescent techniques, as well as various magneto-transport techniques.

Systems

System in a Package
The use of thin film multilayer technology based on copper metallisation and photo-BCB materials as dielectrics is extremely useful for the creation of "systems-in-a-package" of passive and active components for both radio-frequency applications and for digital systems. The success of the Systems-In-a-Package (SIP) concept for the realization of micro-miniaturized systems necessitates the convergence of system design, device technology, materials research, testing and reliability. Research in these areas include the integration of antenna's in micro-systems, the further integration of these in rf-MEMS and the development of more complex power amplifiers using increased number of passives.
Future wireless applications including K-band modulators (20 GHz), anti-collision radar (77GHz) need higher frequency operation due the lack of available spectrum. Also important are extreme low power and miniaturized systems for use in ambient intelligence applications.

Detector and sensor systems
Further evolution in imaging systems will lead to smart, miniaturized and cheap cameras and sensors for all kinds of industrial, medical and safety and security applications. The research combines the integration of systems , mixed-signal CMOS design and advanced packaging. The near term research and development focuses on infrared imagers and camera's for space applications which are both a follow up to our earlier work on CCD and CMOS camera's for the VIS/NIR wavelength region. Exploratory research involves imagers and integrated senors in bionics, "health and safety" and wireless communication.

Ultra-low power Wireless Personal Area Networks
This research targets the evolutionary progress of multimedia Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) to the area which is often referred to as Body-LAN's or Personal Area Networks. Its primary goal is to by to reduce component cost, power consumption and enable extremely low power short range wireless communication. It is driven by the sensor/diagnostics areas rather than by wireless technology.

Solar cell systems
Industrial crystalline silicon solar cell processing is performed in a solar cell pilot line, simulating an industrial environment. The processing is. based on a screen printing technique. Industrial relevance and manufacturability are necessary requirements for such efforts. Longer term research includes work on thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells on low cost substrates, ultra-thin thin film III-V tandem solar cells and organic solar cells

Subsystem research

Plastic electronics
The recently discovered electro-polymers have both fascinating and surprising properties. In particular, the area of photonic and transport devices have shown remarkable improvements in the last couple of years. For example, a number of polymer and thin film organic molecules produce visible light with very high efficiency. Our research deals with the broad ranging study of the artificial engineering of these materials in different structures to enable the modulation of the fundamental physical properties of electron transport and optical activity.

Radio frequency MEMS
Many passive or active components used in portable wireless communication systems will be substituted by MEMS components on chip, vibrating polysilicon resonators, thin metal film inductors on micro-machined membranes, micro-machined capacitors with electrostatic modulation and micro-mechanical switches. Research in the design, performance and on-chip process integration of such MEMS into sub-systems is being actively pursued.

Power MEMS
Super-sensing and ambient intelligence is only feasible in the ultra-low energy limit. On chip power generation might be a solution for low energy portable electronics like sensors for health monitoring, etc. There is demonstrated need for compact, lightweight, distributed and maintenance-free power supplies. It is an energy generating system that taps into a thermal, mechanical or biochemical energy source, and transforms this into electrical power to operate a portable biomedical micro-system including a local wireless area network.

Magnetoelectronics
Integrating magnetic materials in magnetoelectronics will have a far reaching impact on future applicatons in nano-electronics including magnetic RAM, advanced sensor-systems and magnetic MEMS.
The concept of spin-transport with magnetic charge carriers becomes very attractive for the creation of future electronic components, sensors and memories. The research on spin transport covers also spin-tunneling and spin-injection with a long-term projection towards quantum computation.

Biosensors
Biochemical sensors produce information about the behaviour of living cells, DNA antibodies and proteins. Sensor principles based on affinity and hybridisation well defined functional surfaces, or calorimetry in silicon microfabricated technologies are used for transduction of chemical processes in with the goal to enable the monitoring of different parameters for diagnostics, drug screening,etc

Bionics
Living neuron cells can survive on a semiconductor transistor if a bio-compatible interface can be developed that reconciles the conflicting requirements of animate and inanimate materials opening the possibility to create a hybrid neuro-electronic systems. These interfaces mimic the biological environment of the neuron and at the same time adequately transmit both electrical and chemical signals from the neuron to the adjacent electronic network. Many bionic applications are imaginable besides the use of this device for fundamental studies of neural networks.

Power devices
III-Nitride semiconductors have emerged as important materials for high temperature and high power electronic devices. High temperature and high power transistors are needed for automobile engines, future advanced power distribution systems, all-electric vehicles and avionics. We investigate high mobility transistors for use as power devices at 10 GHz and bipolar transistors for use as high power switching devices. Developments in GaN-based materials, together with parallel developments in SiC materials, are now making solid state devices capable of generating high levels of microwave power a realistic possibility. Predictions of the power capability of GaN and SiC based devices show that they can exceed the performance of GaAs devices by as much as a factor of 100.