Jiading, Shanghai, China – 2017 China Shanghai Seminar of Sensor Technologies & Applications (hereinafter “SENSOR CHINA”), also the 2017 Global Sensors in Internet of Things (IoT) Conference had its opening ceremony in September.

Scholars and industry leaders attended the event and launched the “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line. Our honored guests included Xi Wang, Vice president of China Association for Science and Technology and academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Xueshan Yang, former Vice Minister of the Minister of Industry and Information Technology; Wenwu Ding, General Manager of the National Integrated Circuit Fund and Chairman of the China High-end Chip Alliance; Shengwu Wu, Vice Director of the Electronics Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Ziqi Shou, Director of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality; and Chunlei Ma, Party Secretary of the CPC Jiading District Committee.

Hereafter, the CMOS-compatible 8-inch “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line, was officially put into operation by the Shanghai Industrial μTechnology Research Institute (SITRI), which was the first of its kind ever established in China.

By building a complete industry chain for “More than Moore” technology in China, SITRI envisions to take a pioneering role in accelerating its innovative applications into the global IoT industry.

The “More than Moore” ecological chain layout has been improved greatly in China recently. The launch of the 8-inch “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line will further boost innovation and R&D of MEMS products.

At present, information technologies featured by mobile Internet, IoT, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence are innovated, integrated, and applied both rapidly and widely, heralding the new intelligent era of Internet of Everything. Among the multiple trending technologies, the “More than Moore” technology, with sensor as its core and in combination with radio frequency, power, micro energy, and etc., is one of the pivoting and decisive technologies to realize the Internet of Everything in the future.

In fact, the sensor market has been growing explosively in the past few years. There are over 1,000 types of sensors available in the global market. Earlier this year the MEMS Bryzek held in the U.S. has predicted that the size of MEMS chip market will grow to 1 trillion pieces by 2023, while the intelligent sensor market in China will reach a value of RMB 96 billion by 2019.

However, reviewing the present status of the “More than Moore” field, we acknowledged that although we have accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience after many years of theoretical research and technical justification, there is still a big gap between actual practice in production platform and theories when delivering the actual MEMS products. This is mainly because the technology chain involved in the R&D of MEMS products is long. Its “non-standardized” feature prolongs the break-in period for the MEMS products designed through R&D to be fit well with the production line. Compared to the CMOS with standardized feature, the design of MEMS products relies more heavily on the production line. Thus, the pilot test is an inevitable stage, as well as the common challenge faced by many sensor manufacturers in China. According to the latest survey, the success rate of technical product being commercialized is as high as 80% if undergone a pilot test; on the other hand, the success rate is only 30% without a pilot test. That being the case, SITRI, located in the leading integrated circuit R&D and industry base in Shanghai, strives to reaching the world’s cutting-edge level by implementing the “More than Moore” plan.

The 8-inch “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line was built by SITRI in collaboration with one of the world’s leading wafer fabrication plants. It is located in the Jiading Industry Park where there is a 5,000-square-meter high-grade micro-Nano processing ultra-clean plant. It will not only realize the seamless connection between R&D and mass production, but also enrich and improve the “More than Moore” ecological chain in China, which is a key strategic step for SITRI to face up to the global competition. 

                                                                     Layout of the process capability of SITRI’s 8-inch R&D pilot test line

In the field of “More than Moore”, in comparison with the commonly used 6-inch production line, SITRI’s 8-inch production line providing services in the whole process from R&D to mass production is a recognized leading technology. It is reported that the 8-inch R&D pilot test line will focus on the development of “More than Moore” sensor technology, and may carry out the R&D of surface, body and 3D micro-Nano processing, as well as new processes, new devices and new systems. Moreover, based on the features of “More than Moore” products and technologies, the 8-inch R&D pilot test line has made arrangements for the processing and measuring equipment such as MEMS, silicon electronics, RF, silicon substrate III-V, 3D integration, MR magnetic sensor, power and organisms. As the first of its kind in China, SITRI’s 8-inch R&D pilot test line will not only undertake the product R&D, small-scale production, technical training and equipment validation, which will definitely increase the success rate of R&D, but also realize the seamless connections of “More than Moore” products and technologies from R&D to mass production.

SITRI’s integrated functional platform will accelerate the pace of innovation and the process of industrialization in the field of “More than Moore”.

By leveraging on the internationally advanced 8-inch “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line, SITRI intends to build a functional platform integrating R&D, engineering, marketing and incubation, so as to provide innovative companies and cooperative partners with all-round services and solutions.

       At the stage of R&D and innovation: SITRI has established the first mature and comprehensive MEMS-IC software design platform and the first core library for development of MEM-ICIP; the 8-inch “More than Moore” R&D pilot test line occupying an area of almost of 5,000 square meters will focus more on the development and integration of new processes, new materials and new devices; and also provide comprehensive solutions for IC design, system integration and complete Internet of Things;

       At the stage of manufacturing in the pilot test: SITRI has established the internationally   advanced 8-inch More than Moore R&D pilot test line, the world’s leading engineering test and analysis platform, MEMS/ASIC wafer test, package test and other testing capabilities; SITRI is able to provide complete patent and device analysis and research services, and provide the expert guidance on IP licensing, protection and negotiations;

       In the field of industry integration: SITRI will further promote the integration of the sensor industry with automotive electronics, smart care, intelligent security, smart home, smart consumption and other sub-sectors of IoT, in the respect of vertical industry chain and horizontal service market, so as to promote the rapid development of relevant industries. SITRI has sponsored and actively participated in several alliances such as Sensors and IoT Industry Association and “More than Moore” Industrial Technology Innovation Alliance. SITRI will push for the establishment of key standards for “More than Moore” and IoT, and provide worldwide market support through SENSOR China and other similar exhibitions and activities;

       Building a global innovation network: SITRI has set up branches in Silicon Valley, Grenoble of France and Hsinchu of Taiwan, in an attempt to build a global innovation network.

       Investment fund and incubation accelerator: SITRI, together with National Integrated Circuit Fund and other strategic investors, launched a “More than Moore” industry fund worth 5 billion yuan, as part of an effort to provide earlier support for innovative companies; and by making use of its global innovation network, provide both hardware and software incubation services.

In conclusion, by relying on the strong technical support of the 8-inch R&D pilot test line as well as the investment fund and incubation accelerator, SITRI is committed to facilitating investment and incubation in the field of “More than Moore” and IoT, making industry resources and funds allocated in an optimized manner and accelerating technical R&D and corporate incubation. SITRI will build a global innovation network so as to create a “More than Moore” ecological chain featuring industry innovation.

About SITRI: SITRI is committed to innovation and industrialization of the “More than Moore” technology and Internet of Things applications. As a global collaborative innovation center, SITRI integrates R&D, engineering and incubation to provide innovative companies and partners with comprehensive services and solutions. SITRI has established close cooperative relations with many famous enterprises, universities of higher learning and research institutes both at home and abroad, which will help SITRI realize the efficient industrialization of innovative outcomes and speed up the establishment of the “More than Moore” technology and the IoT ecological system. For more information, please visit www.sitrigroup.com