NIRVANA · NINE-AXIS INERTIAL SENSOR BASED ON PIEZORESISTIVE NANO-GAUGE DETECTION

With the recent introduction of MEMS in consumer applications (mobile phone, gaming...) the market for low cost and low power consumption multi-axis inertial sensors has boomed over the last five years. These sensors have generated huge business opportunities, with $M.1900 revenues in 2009 at the MEMS level. Beyond consumer applications, there are many other growing mass market applications like IPTV remote control, sport or eHealth. For these domains, lower consumption, miniaturization, integration and ultimately lower cost of production are essential to address and dominate this market. The same applies for high end niche markets such as implantable sensors in medical field. To address these needs, NIRVANA project aims to develop a very low cost and very low power consumption 9-axis inertial sensor based on a new concept and technology using nano-scale detection means. The idea is to take advantage of the very high sensitivity and low impedance of silicon nano-wire gauge to optimize the dimensions and the integration of the sensor and to reduce the overall power consumption. At this end, innovative sensor designs, disruptive technology (mixing MEMS and NEMS technologies, and including packaging with TSV), and new electronics architectures will be developed in this project. The targeted goal is to validate the integration of 9-axis sensor based on nano-wire gauge detection, having a surface and cost 2 to 4 times less than the current commercial components and with power consumption 3 to 5 times lower. Special emphasis will also be put on the characterization and reliability of these sensors. To ensure the success of this ambitious project, a consortium has been established, with leading research groups (LETI, POLIMI, FhF-IIS) and key industrials partners: Two end-users (MEDEL and MOVEA), and the inertial MEMS manufacturer world leader in the consumer segment (STM), will guarantee the real and prompt exploitation of the developments and results of the NIRVANA project