€6.5M European initiative to provide integrated microsystem services

A three-year programme funded by the European Commission, aimed at reducing the costs and risks associated with designing, prototyping and manufacturing integrated microsystems, has been launched. Known as INTEGRAMplus, this new Framework 6 Integrated Project will be co-ordinated by the UK's QinetiQ and draw on the complementary expertise and facilities of ten partners from seven different European countries. These include Coventor (France), CSEM (Switzerland); Epigem (UK); IMM (Germany); IMT (Romania); ITE (Poland); Silex Microsystems (Sweden); University of Lancaster (UK); and Yole Développement (France).

The application of microsystems in emerging markets requires increasingly complex levels of integrated functions. Future products are likely to require a combination of fluidic, optical, mechanical, electrical and biological functions, and no system based on a single material technology (i.e. silicon, polymer or glass) can provide this complexity in a cost-effective way.

INTEGRAMplus will adopt a multitechnology, multi-domain approach, with a focus on integrating silicon-based MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) components, which provide smart functionality, with polymer backplanes and platforms providing additional functions, packaging