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Santa Barbara, CA, 13 June 2005
Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) announced today
that it will partner with MEMtronics Corporation on MEMtronics'
second phase of a $3.69M, three-year development contract from the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) entitled "Robust,
Reliable RF MEMS Capacitive Switches." IMT, MEMtronics' manufacturing
partner, will fabricate and package the high-tech, ultra-low loss
RF switches. Also teaming with MEMtronics on this program are Lehigh
University and Exponent Inc. The focus of this contract is to improve
the environmental robustness and reliability of radio frequency
microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) operating under extreme
environmental conditions.
Part of the Harsh Environment Robust Micromechanical
Technology (HERMIT) Program, the first phase of this contract recently
culminated in the successful demonstration of a wafer-level packaging
technology called "wafer-level microencapsulation." This
packaging scheme protects MEMS switches from the adverse effects
of moisture and particles. The microfabricated packages have extremely
low loss to frequencies as high as 100 GHz and substantially reduce
the packaging costs associated with RF MEMS switches. Details of
this packaging technology will be presented this summer at the upcoming
ASME InterPACK'05 conference in San Francisco. The second phase
of this contract will concentrate on improving the lifetime and
reliability of packaged MEMS switches. Together, the team will push
switch reliability well past the current state-of-the-art lifetime
of 100 billion cycles.
Chuck Goldsmith, CEO of MEMtronics commented, "IMT
has been instrumental in the development of both our switch and
the packaging technology required for long-term performance of our
devices. We are expecting similarly outstanding efforts on Phase
2 of this program."
Commented John Foster, CEO of IMT, "We continue
to be impressed with the MEMtronics RF-MEMS switch technology and
are gratified by our continued successful collaboration. We are
excited to be building these devices for them and plan on working
through their Phase 2 program and into commercial production."
About Innovative Micro Technology
IMT was formed in 2000, specifically to produce
MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) devices. Its 130,000 sq ft
facility contains a 30,000 sq ft clean room/fab, the largest and
best-equipped independent MEMS fab in the world. The company was
built for high-volume manufacturing, and provides full foundry services
from design through production. IMT currently has >100 employees
and >20 customers in diverse applications, including drug discovery,
drug delivery, biomedical implants and cell purifiers, microfluidics,
inertial navigation, printing, various sensors, night vision, IR
emitters, telephone/DSL switching, RF devices, power management,
and several others. IMT's overriding goal is to partner with companies
to develop products based on MEMS technology. Contact Monte Heaton:
phone (805) 681-2852; fax (805) 967-2677, email monte@imtmems.com,
or visit www.imtmems.com.
About MEMtronics Corporation
MEMtronics is developing low-cost, high-performance
switching technology for RF and wireless systems. The technology
is based on the company's expertise in microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) for RF applications. Formed in 2001, the Texas-based, privately-held
company is focused on the commercialization and deployment RF MEMS
technology. MEMtronics is developing solutions to reduce the size,
weight, and cost of military and commercial communications, imaging,
and radar systems in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency
ranges. For more information, contact: David Bettler, VP Operations,
469-682-5665, dbettler@memtronics.com or visit www.memtronics.com.
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