Selecting a fab for your photonics, sensors, biotech or MEMS devices

The guide helps you compare and contrast the following fab partners:

• Microfabrication foundries: When selecting a microfabrication fab, the evaluation should balance technical capabilities, quality, cost efficiency, and customer support. A fab that meets the specific needs of your project in terms of technology, turnaround time, flexibility, and process scalability will help ensure the success of your product, whether it’s for prototyping or high-volume manufacturing.
• CMOS fabs: A microfabrication foundry offers flexibility, customization, and a broader range of process capabilities that make it better suited for specialized and emerging technologies compared to standard CMOS fabs. It provides support for lower-volume production, diverse material handling, and integration of non-electronic components, making it an ideal choice for industries like photonics, sensors, biotechnology, and MEMS. In contrast, CMOS fabs are optimized for high-volume, silicon-based semiconductor production and lack the versatility needed for custom or niche microfabrication projects.
• IDM fabs: While IDM fabs offer the advantage of vertical integration (handling everything from design to manufacturing in-house), a microfabrication foundry is often a better option for companies seeking flexible, scalable, and specialized manufacturing services. Microfabrication foundries provide cost efficiency, broader technological capabilities, faster time to market, and focus on customer collaboration. These advantages make them ideal partners for businesses that prioritize flexibility, advanced manufacturing technologies, and access to diverse expertise in the microfabrication space.
• Subscale fabs: A microfabrication foundry outperforms subscale fabs in key areas like advanced equipment, higher production capacity, yield optimization, quality control, cost efficiency, and process expertise. These capabilities are crucial for scaling up production, ensuring reliability, and meeting the stringent requirements of high-tech industries such as aerospace, defense, medical devices, and consumer electronics. Subscale fabs are often better suited for niche applications, prototyping, or low volume runs but lack the comprehensive capabilities of a microfabrication foundry.
• University fabs: A microfabrication foundry outperforms university fabs in several key areas, including production capacity, quality control, scalability, turnaround time, and regulatory compliance. While university fabs are invaluable for research and development, a microfabrication foundry offers the infrastructure, expertise, and focus necessary for commercial and industrial-scale microfabrication, making it better suited for companies looking to scale up production or meet specific market and regulatory demands.