from November 11 to 14, 2008 in Munich/Germany

Hall A2 Stand 420

The Fraunhofer IPMS carries out customer specific developments in fields of microelectronic and micro systems technology in Dresden, serving as a business partner that supports the transition of innovative ideas into new products. The Fraunhofer IPMS develops and fabricates modern CMOS technology products in its own clean room facilities, up to small pilot series production. With modern equipment and about 200 scientists, the range of projects and expertise covers sensor and actuator systems, microscanner, spatial light modulators, lifetronics and organic materials and systems. At the electronica 2008 in Munich the Fraunhofer IPMS presents:

1. Hyperspectral Imaging

Hyperspectral imaging can be potentially used for a broad variety of applications, ranging from harvesting of agricultural goods to waste selection in recycling processes. In the majority of these applications, objects are transported on a conveyor belt and decisions must be made to separate items based on size or material attributes. To gather information on the shape and material composition of an object, imaging and spectroscopic data, respectively, can be used. In the case of organic compounds, as for instance plastics, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is the best option. However, standard NIR hyperspectral imaging systems use InGaAs detector arrays, which make them rather expensive. Fraunhofer IPMS is demonstrating for the first time a Hyperspectral Imaging system that only requires a linear sensor array which makes it attractive for a broad range of applications. It is based on the scanning grating chips (MOEMS, micro-optical electromechanical systems) developed and manufactured at the institute. The mechnical movement of these micromirrors with grating on top of them allows the reduction to one dimension for the sensor. In the demonstrator, spectroscopic data for each point across the belt is acquired and pre-processed by a digital signal processor board. The spectral data is transferred to a computer by USB 2.0 and the data is evaluated spectroscopically through analytical software on the PC, either by a best match approach or by appliying a chemometric model for the compounds.

2. OLED-on-CMOS-Integration for sensor applications

Besides the standard substrate glass, Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are suited for the integration on different application-specific materials, like silicon wafers. Due to the combination of OLEDs with CMOS technology (OLED-on-CMOS) advantages concerning light-brightness, efficiency, low operating voltage and spectral characteristics can be achieved. In comparison with traditional adoptions in small and medium-sized displays this offers a great variety of completely new applications regarding the possibilities of the integration of different sensor-devices (e. g. photo detectors) into the CMOS-circuit-technology. Advantages refer mainly to the supplement of efficient and stable light-emitting devices on the CMOS-chip, using the OLED-on-CMOS-technology, as well as the CMOS-based activation and signal processing. Doing so, the light-emitter can be placed above the CMOS-electronics without claiming useful space on the chip. This combination allows the production and application of highly developed devices: OLED-microdisplays (based on CMOS-technology) with embedded image-receiver (bi-directional microdisplay) for an interactive adaption and control of the displayed information via eye movement or optoelectronic sensors with an integrated light source. Since a while the Fraunhofer IPMS offers developments in this field and is able to present different technology-demonstrators. During the electronica 2008 the Fraunhofer IPMS will present the prototype of a bi-directional OLED microdisplay with an imaging CMOS photo diode matrix interlaced in a QVGA display (12 x 9 mm²), both are integrated and work at the CMOS chip. Furthermore an optical flux sensor will be presented, which includes the required light source on the CMOS-sensor chip. A CMOS photo diode line allows the detection of the speed of a particle flow and an embedded OLED light source in the form of stripes in parallel to the photo diode line provides the illumination of the medium. Due to the achieved reduction of the expenditure regarding the construction and circuit technology numerous applications of those devices are enabled. Fields of application vary from chemistry, medicine to life science. Other applications of OLED-on-CMOS include light barriers, opto-couplers and optical communications.

Prof. Hubert Lakner, institute´s director of Fraunhofer IPMS, will participate at the panel discussion »Emerging MEMS for Mass Markets«, at Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 15:00, in hall A2.