CMOS-MEMS Integration: Why, How and What?

CMOS-MEMS integration can improve the performance of the MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems), allows for smaller packages and leads to a lower packaging and instrumentation cost. As argued in this article, processing MEMS above CMOS is the most promising approach for CMOS-MEMS integration, but it limits the thermal budget for MEMS processing. Poly-SiGe provides the desired material properties for MEMS applications at significantly lower temperatures compared to Poly-Si. A case study of a CMOS-integrated SiGe gyroscope will be presented