Engineers use UCI intellectual property to disrupt the microelectromechanical systems industry. Integra Devices isn’t just trying; it’s succeeding thanks to their new way of thinking about constructing micro-devices.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) – or miniaturized 3D devices with moving parts – are big business. MEMS can be found everywhere and in everyday consumer electronics devices, like smartphones and smartwatches.
This miniaturization of devices allows for technological advances and new applications, which then influence how we live our lives and interact with the world.
The problem is only a handful of devices have been successfully miniaturized despite many companies trying. Integra Devices – a startup based on UCI intellectual property – isn’t just trying; it’s succeeding thanks to their new way of thinking about constructing micro-devices. This new paradigm allows Integra Devices to not only design and create with a wider array of materials, but also develop a whole host of micro-devices that others have failed to miniaturize.
A History Lesson
About a dozen years before Integra Devices was established in 2015, there was UCI Professor of electrical engineering and computer science Mark Bachman, Ph.D. – now chief technology officer of Integra Devices – who led numerous research projects for government agencies and contracts for industry leaders, including some asking him to create micro-devices.
At the time, MEMS were primarily created using silicon and an additive manufacturing technique from the semiconductor industry called thin-film processing, which builds devices layer by layer, one after another, until the desired result is achieved. Although effective, manufacturers were limited by the number of materials and processes used, and were therefore limited in the kinds of devices they could miniaturize.
Due to the limitations in MEMS manufacturing, Bachman, too, was unsuccessful at creating the micro-devices requested.
A New Paradigm
Looking for answers, Bachman and his colleague, UCI Professor of electrical engineering and computer science Guann-Pyng “G.P.” Li, Ph.D., visited a microelectronics packaging company. These companies manufacture tiny housings, or packages, to protect computer chips from contamination and damage.
“I saw what they were doing and I realized that what they were doing wasn’t ‘chip packaging,’ but actually precision manufacturing. G.P. Li and I asked ourselves, ‘What if the package was the device,’” said Bachman. “From there, we immersed ourselves in heterogeneous integration and soon we were making microelectromechanical devices that we couldn’t build before.”
Heterogeneous integration, combined with precision manufacturing already utilized by the microelectronics packaging industry, allowed for a larger toolset from which Bachman and Li could draw from when creating micro-devices. No longer were they limited by silicon or thin-film processing.
UCI was awarded the fundamental patent for this new method – called Amalga™ – in 2014. Soon after, Bachman decided to transform the micro-device industry and founded Integra Devices with industry veterans Paul Dhillon, CEO, and James Spoto, chairman.
“I remember when the first MEMS accelerometer was introduced about 30 years ago,” said Dhillon. “Coming from the sensors and instrumentation industry, it was truly disruptive in the applications it enabled. Our technology reminds me of that disruptive introduction. For the first time in 30 years, we are offering a completely new way to design and produce micro-devices, opening the doors for applications and products that before could not be realized.”
Big Idea, Bigger Market
What makes Integra Devices’ paradigm even more intriguing is that it does not require new manufacturing technologies or machines, as manufacturers already have the capabilities to fabricate components to specification.
The industry has been looking for ways to miniaturize all manner of devices, too.
“Over the decades, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into MEMS companies. With limited success, ‘MEMS’ can be a scary word, as the number of successful MEMS products to date can be counted on two hands,” said Dhillon. “Although we make microelectromechanical systems, we do not build them the same way and thus do not possess the same challenges traditional MEMS companies face. It is one of the reasons we emphasize that we are systems beyond silicon. In fact, almost all of the devices we develop don’t use any silicon at all!”
Integra Devices has compiled industry estimates for the total available market for industrial components and mechanical devices to be greater than $200 billion. That being said, the existing MEMS industry has only managed to miniaturize about 10 percent of that market.
“There’s a big piece of the pie that has yet to be miniaturized and that’s what we are aiming at,” said Sourabh Dhillon, business
development manager at Integra Devices. “We don’t look to compete with what’s already been miniaturized, like accelerometers, microphones or gyroscopes; those have already been miniaturized successfully. Integra Devices is going to build the devices that the industry could not.”
Making Connections
The first product that Integra Devices developed and miniaturized was a high-performing electromechanical relay for microwave – or millimeter-wave – frequencies, a long sought-after device in the MEMS industry. This relay caught the attention of Lockheed Martin, a global aerospace and defense company with worldwide interests, who became their first customer, allowing Integra Devices to be customer-funded from an early stage – a rarity in the startup space.
Electromechanical relays – or switches – control radio frequency signals and are mainly used for communications technologies, like fifth-generation (5G) communication networks, whose faster connection is made possible by transmitting at higher frequencies than previously used. The problem Integra Devices aims to solve with their millimeter-wave relay comes with the nature of higher frequency transmission.
Higher frequencies cannot go through solid structures, like walls or buildings, as easily as lower frequencies and they have a limited range. This means that there needs to be a larger infrastructure than previous-generation technologies and, therefore, more cellular base stations closer together.
Integra Devices’ micro-relay can be manufactured much more cost-effectively than existing relays and is physically smaller – measured in millimeters instead of inches – all without any loss in performance. This puts Integra Devices in a well-suited position to help speed the adoption of 5G, in addition to advancing other industries in need of miniaturized solutions.
Miniaturizing Today for a Grand Tomorrow
Having unlocked the secret to miniaturizing devices, Integra Devices has been busy perfecting their relay and a number of other devices. A glaucoma stent company contracted the startup to develop an eyelash-size, battery-free, biocompatible pressure sensor to measure pressure in the eye. Another pressure sensor Integra Devices is working on for drug delivery aims to ensure proper doses are being administered by monitoring for blockages or leakages in the delivery system, allowing at-home chemotherapy. They built prototypes of Proof of Product (POP) Grants award winner Dr. Hamid Djalilian’s new hearing aid, which uses an actuator that sits on the tympanic membrane to mechanically move the eardrum and create sound. They are also developing an energy-harvesting device that uses machine vibrations to power the next generation of Industrial Internet of Things devices – which will eliminate the need for batteries in devices used in monitoring and data collection – after they received a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Despite all of these new micro-devices and applications, Integra Devices maintains their primary focus on commercializing their micro-relay. From there, the startup aims to become a household name in industrial and life science components, much like General Electric, Siemens and Bosch, who build components for everything from consumer electronics to military applications. Integra Devices’ new paradigm in micro-device manufacturing, their appetite for innovation and their recently completed $6 million Series A funding round led by Kairos Ventures has the potential to take them there.
Learn more about how Integra Devices is miniaturizing the world around us by visiting integradevices.com.