About Sensonor
After having been part of Infineon Technologies since the summer
of 2003, Sensonor is back as an independent company with Norwegian
investors as from 1st of March 2009. The company makes a real
difference in the industrial sensor community by focusing on
products using MEMS technology, but for High Precision
applications.
Based out of Horten, a small town 100 km south of Oslo in
Norway, Sensonor has for 24 years played a significant role in the
development of the global MEMS industry. Over the years, more than
200 million pressure sensors, more than 200 million accelerometers,
and more than 2 million gyros have been shipped to customers for
use in numerous type of applications. Probably the most important
reason for this success is the extremely low failure rate
experienced by customers relaying on Sensonor products; less than 1
failure in 10 million parts shipped.
The legacy of silicon based sensors at Sensonor goes even further
back. Already in the mid sixties the mother company, AME, started
up with pressure sensors and accelerometers based on piezoresistive
micromachined silicon strain gauges and from the late seventies
with etched diaphragm silicon sensors.
The impressive list of world "firsts" clearly shows the
dedication and capability to provide global customers with
innovative solutions:
- First MEMS pressure sensor for Aircraft Engine Control (AE880 -
1985)
- First MEMS accelerometer for Air Bag Systems (S64A - 1987)
- First optical pressure sensor for Down Hole Well Monitoring
(PP05 - 1990)
- First low cost Air Bag Accelerometer (SA20 - 1992)
- First integrated micro system for Tire Pressure Measurement
(SP13 - 1998)
- First low cost Automotive Gyro (SAR10 - 2003)
During the past ten years MEMS technology has played a more and
more dominant role within automotive and consumer volume
applications. The reason is obvious and explained by the superior
advantages of MEMS compared to conventional technologies:
- Lower cost - Smaller size - Lower weight - Less Power - More
Robust
In opposition to the MEMS success within automotive and
consumer, there are very few examples where MEMS play an important
role within High Precision sensing applications. Sensonor has taken
the challenge to bring the same capable and reliable benefits to
customers operating with High Precision products.
During the early nineties, Sensonor developed its triple stack
hermetic wafer bonding technology that has shown extremely good
long term properties. In short the technology is based on a
combination of micro machined single crystalline silicon and micro
machined glass wafers. These wafers are then bonded together using
anodic bonding and a controlled gas pressure creating electrical
connections into the bonded cavity by utilizing semiconductor
diffusions buried under a layer of epitaxial silicon.
These stable long term properties have been explored within High
Precision applications by customers using our pressure sensors as
well as by customers using our ButterflyGyroTM sensors.
Sensonor has on this platform launched a number of High Precision
products aiming to:
- Replace traditional High Precision technology by offering lower
cost and better robustness in smaller housings using less power at
equal performance
- Enable new High Precision applications by offering low cost and
high robustness in small housings using low power at performance
levels not available in today's market
Being in the forefront of advanced technology requires the most
efficient research, development and manufacturing arrangements.
Sensonor operates its own 150 mm wafer fab for advanced
heterogeneous MEMS processes and several fully equipped assembly
and test lines. Additionally to our own staff Sensonor develop
solutions in cooperation with partners that are global leaders in
their respective areas.
Read more...
Our
Timeline
From Research to Industry a paper presented at
MME05-Micromechanics Europe