New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q1 2021

for them because of physical and optical laws. Scale-down was shown at IEDM 2020. Thanks to imec’s approach and expertise, such short- wave-infrared cameras can soon be made in high volumes and at much reduced cost compared to today. Another example is imec’s work on photo-acoustic imaging. In photo- acoustic sensing, a light source sends radiation of a specific wavelength into a sample, where absorption causes thermal expansion. This results in sound waves that can be picked up by a sensitive microphone. Photo- acoustic systems have a benchtop- size today and have been shown to be extraordinarily sensitive. They for example allow to non-invasively measure blood-glucose levels – or the concentration of analytes in other contexts - with extreme precision. By using semiconductor technologies, imec aims to integrate ultra-sensitive microphones and light sources with high spectral purity onto a chip; and, as such, bring photo-acoustic sensing to the next level. On a somewhat related topic, imec is also using acoustics, ultrasound in this case, for haptic- feedback systems. Haptic feedback is an emerging human-machine interface, in which a machine can ‘touch’ its operator by triggering mechanoreceptors in the human skin without physical contact. This adds a new dimension of ‘touchlessness’ to currently available user interfaces and can play a critical role in the low-touch economy which is expected to emerge post-COVID-19. At the heart of the first-generation of haptic-based interfaces are bulky piezoelectric ultrasound transducers, which are cumbersome in use,

knowledge and insights of what these promising markets might need. Two of those domains could certainly be life sciences and industrial equipment. For those, there are numerous potential applications for sensor and actuator technologies and they are close to imec’s application-oriented R&D divisions. In life sciences, one could think of all kinds of optical and acoustics- based system enhancements for diagnostics and surgery and leverage can be created via imec’s life-science technologies division. Also, the entire industry 4.0 vision relies on sensor and actuator enabled solutions and can internally build on imec’s unique ecosystem of equipment suppliers. But also other sectors will be investigated. For example, agrofood, the focus area of imec’s OnePlanet initiative, could benefit from e.g. integrating SWIR cameras on drones for crop monitoring or using ultrasound technology to monitor fruit ripening. And in waste management, short-wave infrared or other electromagnetic waves can be used to sort plastics that are difficult or impossible to distinguish in visible light. And as soon as imec’s sensor and actuator engine is oiled and running in these business-to- business sectors, it won’t shy away from consumer-electronics domains either.

impede a very fine interaction and limit end-product integration possibilities. Imec’s ambition is to develop a dense array of one or more ultrasound transducers types in large area format to modulate the output power and precisely focus the ultrasound beam in mid- air at distances ranging from few centimeters to tens of centimeters. Imec technology moves up the TRL ladder As becomes apparent through these examples, compatibility with semiconductor manufacturing always inherently enables scalability, often goes hand in hand with miniaturization and often with improved performance as well. Looking at the traditional building blocks of an electrical system (processing, memory, connectivity, input/output), imec is world-leading in each of them and now reinforces its focus on the sensor and actuator technologies that enable the system input and output. The new internal strategy builds on two main foundations. It is more proactive in the technology development for high-potential application areas and takes these selected technologies towards a higher technology-readiness level. Until now, imec was in its sensor and actuator developments mainly focusing on its underlying capabilities (e.g. ultra-low power electronics, thins-film technologies, imagers, microfluidics), and generic integration capabilities. In the new strategy, imec will keep strengthening its capabilities and - on top of that -be more proactive in developing prototypes and system demonstrators based on its own

Paul Heremans, IMEC

22 l New-Tech Magazine Europe