Jan 21 2016
Vesper, the technology leader in acoustic MEMS, announced today that it is collaborating with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, a leading provider of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, to deliver the world's first commercially available piezoelectric MEMS microphones for smartphones, wearables, automobiles, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other high-volume markets.
Vesper's VM1000, the first piezoelectric MEMS microphone for smartphones, wearables, IoT devices and other high-volume markets, is being manufactured by GLOBALFOUNDRIES
Vesper's piezoelectric MEMS microphones are natively waterproof, dustproof and particle-resistant, enabling outstanding acoustic performance in almost any environment. Vesper's ultra-high reliability also enables designers to build large stable arrays without ever suffering a breakdown. This makes them highly attractive to systems designers who cannot compromise on quality or performance.
"GLOBALFOUNDRIES, one of the world's largest and most advanced semiconductor foundries, is a pioneer in piezoelectric MEMS manufacturing," said Matt Crowley, CEO, Vesper. "Their piezoelectric process technology and manufacturing capability have proven their ability to deliver high-quality piezoelectric products. That's why we selected them as a premier supply chain manufacturer for our microphones."
"GLOBALFOUNDRIES' proven manufacturing process for piezoelectric MEMS microphones is designed to ensure consistent quality at high volumes," said Gregg Bartlett, senior vice president of the CMOS Platforms Business Unit at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "Our collaboration with Vesper has enabled rapid time-to-market to deliver the first piezoelectric MEMS microphone. GLOBALFOUNDRIES' high-volume MEMS manufacturing experience enabled Vesper to move from first wafers to full process validation in under twelve months, while using a new material and process. That's unprecedented in the MEMS industry, where this process can easily take five years or more."
Worldwide, more than four billion MEMS microphones will ship in 2016, and the market grows rapidly to exceed six billion units by 2019, according to IHS Technology.i
Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst, MEMS & Sensors, IHS, commented, "Piezoelectric MEMS microphones are well positioned as higher-performance devices that can be built into arrays for smartphones, smart home devices and other products that use multiple microphones for noise cancellation and beamforming."