The state of standards

摘要

The growing MEMS industry is similar in many ways to its predecessor-the semiconductor industry-but as MEMS developers know, there are also disparities between the two. One can borrow from the semiconductor industry's standards and best practices (e.g., the parallel shift from an in-house development and fabrication model to a "virtual," foundry/ fabless one), but in other areas, there is no model to emulate. Whether borrowing from the semiconductor industry or establishing a standard from scratch, fundamental questions remain: Is the MEMS industry ready to take on the challenge of standards development? Or does the industry perceive that it's unnecessary, or that standardization might hinder the process for new innovative device technologies? MEMS Industry Group (MIG), a trade association representing MEMS and microstructure manufacturers, interviewed a cross section of its member companies to find out.