TECHNICAL OVERVIEW
"Manufacturing starts with design". This statement holds especially true in the case of micro and nanosystem technology (MNT) as there are a range of manufacturing related difficulties that can be simplified by either design enhancements or the integration of additional functions. This design for micro & nano manufacture (DfMM) methodology is however immature and is one of the main reasons why the commercialization of MNT based products is still severely limited despite a range of impressive research programmes, design innovations and initiatives across Europe.
Some of the key problems that affect manufacturability are now widely acknowledged and include difficulties in developing economic production test strategies and efficient packaging and assembly solutions. Guaranteeing robustness and reliability is also extremely difficult due to complexity and the heterogeneous nature of most MNT based products. Improved design support is also becoming a key commercial requirement with pressure on tool vendors to optimise models aimed at providing the designer with the means to predict the impact of second-order effects on the design (e.g. package induced stress and mode coupling), and verify end-use stability and subsequent reliability, especially in aggressive environments.
The need to solve these issues in MNT is hampered by the shortage of multidisciplinary, skilled engineers, and the need for major advances in simulation and modelling technology that handles hierarchical heterogeneous designs. Furthermore, many typical applications of micro & nano system technologies require very high reliability, and suitable test methodologies, standards and instrumentation are often missing. Time-to-market targets for most MNT products will therefore only be achieved if these so called "back-end" issues are addressed early in the design cycle.
