TUTORIALS
T3: From Design to Deployment: MEMS Sensors, Circuits and Their Integration Ecosystem
09:30 - 13:00
CHAIRS
Matthias Kuhl (University of Freiburg, DE)
Gabriele Schrag (Technical University of Munich, DE)
ABSTRACT
Microstructured components and systems are ubiquitous in our daily lives. As sensors, they are the basis for applications in the “Internet of Things/Industry 4.0" scenario and beyond and are applied as actuators in many different areas. Their functionality is not only in the transducer elements themselves, but in the entire microsystem, which includes the circuitry, packaging as well as data processing. This tutorial spans the arc from MEMS transducers and analog/mixed-signal circuit technology for sensor readout over simulation methods and digital twins to the entire MEMS co-integration ecosystem. Additionally, exemplary application scenarios for which MEMS serve as enablers are addressed.
PROGRAM
09:30 - 10:15
MEMS Sensors and Actuators
Alfons Dehé (University of Freiburg and Hahn-Schickard, DE)
Our daily life as well as our professional life is flooded by micro sensors that we almost don’t notice because they are so tiny and smart. This is the effort of 20-40 years of research and development in MEMS and we could conclude: this job is done! Software based and ASIC implemented solutions have yielded seamless applications and unveil unexpected applications from sports utilities up to robotics. Yet we are not satisfied with the abilities of our sensors. It is time to further the key target parameters such as resolution, bandwidth and dynamic range to reach out for senses beyond our daily expectations. As one example this talk will review the fight for KPIs in MEMS microphone development together with their technological challenges. What are open challenges you could contribute? While microphones serve the “internet of voice and sound” on the one end finally MEMS speaker solutions enter the level of applicability. Requirements and latest state of solutions will be discussed.​​
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10:15 - 11:00
Digital Twins of MEMS – from Sensors to System-Level Models
Gabriele Schrag (Technical University of Munich, DE)
​​Today’s mature fabrication processes enable a very high integration of components leading to systems with enhanced functionality and complexity that cannot be designed by simply considering the sum of their single constituent parts. Thus, optimum performance can be achieved only by properly adjusting all cooperative subsystems to each other, i.e. carrying out a proper system design. Since, by their nature as sensors or actuators, the constituent components of a microsystem link different energy and signal domains and an important aspect is the physically consistent treatment of all effects governing their operation. Virtual prototyping is already an integral part of the design methodology for micromechatronical devices and systems in order to realize cost- and time-efficient development cycles. A successful design strategy requires modeling methodologies on different levels of abstraction and computational expense from continuous-field to system level. This tutorial gives an overview on virtual prototyping methodologies of microsystems and shows their application to exemplary devices and systems. The concept of “generalized Kirchhoffian networks” will be introduced as a powerful methodological basis for setting up multi-energy domain-coupled system-level models, which build the link to the co-design of microsensors, microactuators and electronic circuitry. Additionally, approaches for deriving and realizing compact and reduced order models are presented.
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11:00 - 11:30
Coffee break
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11:30 - 12:15
CMOS Circuit Design – from CMOS-integrated sensing to digital information
Matthias Kuhl (University of Freiburg, DE)
​​The integration of sensors with CMOS circuits is a cornerstone of modern MEMS-based systems, where the interface between the physical world and digital processing critically defines overall system performance. This tutorial will explore how sensor and readout circuit co-design enables optimized signal extraction, emphasizing the need to jointly tailor sensor characteristics and CMOS interfaces to achieve high sensitivity, low noise, and robust performance under varying conditions. We will discuss how this co-design paradigm naturally extends to closed-loop readout architectures, in which the interface circuit actively controls and stabilizes the sensor to improve linearity, dynamic range, or bandwidth. The evolution from purely analog signal conditioning to mixed-signal architectures will be reviewed, highlighting how each step has expanded the design space and performance envelope. Finally, we will address the emerging trend of direct digitization at the sensor interface, enabling streamlined integration into digital processing chains while introducing new challenges and opportunities for sensor-circuit co-optimization.
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12:15 - 13:00
Ultrasound Technology Evolution: From Piezo-Ceramic Devices to Optical and Flexible Sensors
Véronique Rochus (imec, BE)
The evolution of ultrasound technologies, from bulk piezo-ceramic devices to their micromachined counterparts, has already paved the way for innovative medical imaging applications since several decades. Further advancements in ultrasound technologies, particularly their scaling towards large-area and flexible surfaces, or optical ultrasound sensors, promise to enhance their current applications and expand their use beyond medical imaging. Optical ultrasound sensors represent a significant advancement in medical imaging technology by using light to detect ultrasound waves. This approach offers several advantages, including higher sensitivity, better spatial resolution, and utilizing photonic multiplexing techniques to simultaneously capture multiple signals. These sensors further enhance imaging capabilities with extremely sensitive and small designs, making them ideal for applications such as photoacoustic imaging. On the other hand, large-area ultrasound transducers, due to their size and flexibility, promise to broaden the application space of these technologies beyond medical imaging. These advancements open up possibilities for treatment, lab-on-panels, stimulation, bi-directional human-machine interfaces, and more continuous monitoring and therapeutic treatments.
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13:00 - 14:00
Lunch
BIOSKETCHES
​Matthias Kuhl (Chair)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kuhl received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wuppertal, Germany, in 2004 and 2006, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in microelectronics from the Fritz Hüttinger Chair of Microelectronics, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Germany, in 2013. From 2006 to 2018, he was with the Fritz Hüttinger Chair of Microelectronics, where he founded and has been leading the Medical Microelectronic Devices and Implantable Circuits Group, since 2013, and was appointed as a Junior Professor of integrated interface circuits, in 2015. In 2018, he joined Hamburg University of Technology, Germany, as a Full Professor, where he led the Institute for Integrated Circuits. In 2019, he became a Guest Professor at Stanford University, USA, for a six-month research stay. Since 2022, he has been heading the Laboratory for Microelectronics, University of Freiburg, where he and his group conduct research in the field of analog/mixed-signal CMOS-integrated circuits. The application focus is on neural interfaces and low-power sensing applications. Prof. Kuhl is a member of IEEE and VDE, and was appointed an Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellow in 2018.
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Gabriele Schrag (Chair)
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Schrag currently leads the Professorship of Micro Sensors and Actuators at the Technical University of Munich. Her group works in the field of modeling and design of MEMS with a specific focus on virtual prototyping and predictive simulation methodologies, prototyping and verification of microdevices and microsystems. She studied physics at the University of Stuttgart and received her doctorate (with honors) and her venia legendi from the Technical University of Munich. Her research interests include the design and optimization of novel sensor, actuator, and microsystem concepts, modeling methodologies for microstructured devices and systems experimental characterization, model validation, and parameter extraction for MEMS and NEMS. She acts as a reviewer and technical program committee member for various journals and conferences and has authored and co-authored more than 150 publications. Together with Prof. T. Bechtold and Dr. Lihong Feng she edited and co-authored the book “System-level Modeling of MEMS” (Wiley VHC). In 2019, she received the Eurosensors Fellow award.
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Alfons Dehé
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alfons Dehé is a leading expert in silicon-based microsystems and acoustic sensor technologies. Since July 2017, he has served as Director at the Hahn-Schickard Institute in Villingen-Schwenningen, where he oversees research in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), sensor development, and cleanroom fabrication processes. Concurrently, he holds the Georg H. Endress Professorship for Smart Systems Integration at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg. Prof. Dehé earned his degree in physics from RWTH Aachen University and completed his Ph.D. in 1997 at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Prior to his current roles, he was instrumental at Infineon Technologies AG in Munich from 1998, where he led the development of the entire value chain for silicon microphones. He pushed MEMS innovation towards the physical limits for MEMS microphones, sound generation and the miniaturization of physical gas sensing for environmental monituring. Prof. Dehé actively contributes to the scientific community, including his role as Chairman of the Innovation Alliance Baden-Württemberg.
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Véronique Rochus
Dr. Véronique Rochus is a Principal Scientist at imec, a leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. With over two decades of experience, she specializes in the design, modeling, and development of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), and integrated photonic devices. She obtained her Master’s degree as Physics Engineering from the University of Liège (Belgium) in 2001, followed by a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution in 2006, where she specialized in the FEM modeling and design of MEMS devices. During her doctoral studies, she also engaged in research collaborations with TUDelft and Kyoto University in computational mechanics and microfabrication. At imec, Dr. Rochus leads multidisciplinary projects focusing on the integration of MEMS with photonic and electronic systems, contributing to advancements in sensors, actuators, and biomedical devices. Her research has been pivotal in developing innovative solutions for applications ranging from ultrasound imaging to flexible electronics. Dr. Rochus has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and holds several patents in the field of MEMS and photonics. Notably, she contributed to the development of a novel opto-mechanical ultrasound sensor in silicon photonics, presented at SPIE Photonics West 2020. She actively participates in the scientific community, serving on the Technical Program Committee for the MultiPhysics track at the EuroSimE conference.