Trends in Microsystems Packaging for Cost-Effective Manufacturing

Packaging remains a major obstacle to the commercialisation of MEMS devices. The development of suitable packaging solutions is a significant and challenging part of the work required to transfer MEMS devices from the laboratory to commercial production. In all cases, packaging has proven to be the single largest element of cost of MEMS devices (up to 80%) and can also be a major limitation to the miniaturisation potential of MEMS devices. Several approaches are being developed to address some of these issues, including wafer level packaging, advanced plastic packages and system-in-a-package for more complex systems. This presentation reviews some MEMS packaging case studies and highlights the solutions that have been developed to address the challenges in each case.