MEMS Foundry

Atomica is the largest MEMS foundry in the US, providing close collaboration in particular for North American customers and the assurance that intellectual property is protected and respected. The company is privately held and controlled by Cerium Technology.

Atomica was previously known as Innovative Micro Technology (IMT), and has been operating for 20+ years. Our MEMS Foundry has recently undergone a two-year transformation with improved systems and an 8” (200mm) wafer line. The recent purchase of more than 300 state-of-the-art semiconductor processing tools has marked a key milestone in our MEMS Foundry transformation. It has expanded Atomica’s capability to develop and manufacture sophisticated microdevices, biochips and sensors.

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MEMS Foundry Details

  • 13-acre, 130,000 ft2 manufacturing facility with the capacity to support high volume production
  • 30,000 ft2 class 100 cleanroom
  • Over 400 tools for both 6” and 8” wafer production
  • ISO 9001 certified (since 2006)
  • ISO 13485: 2018 compliance in progress (Medical Quality System Regulation)
  • IATF 16949: 2016 compliance in progress
  • Mature MES, document control, and phase-gate systems
  • ITAR registered
  • Broad materials flexibility, providing access to an extensive set of processes and materials unavailable in CMOS fabs, including noble metals, polymers, and virtually any substrate (e.g., silicon, SOI, glass, fused silica, quartz, borosilicate, piezos, and III-V).
Atomica MEMS Foundry
Atomica - Largest US MEMS Foundry

New 200 mm-compatible equipment include:

  • Applied Materials Endura PVD for precise sputtered films
  • Veeco Phoenix atomic-layer deposition (ALD) system enabling atomic-scale high quality conformal coatings
  • Evatek Evaporator for high-volume deposition of evaporated films and optical coatings
  • Plasma-Therm High Density PECVD for high quality lower-temperature dielectric films with superior gap fill
  • Plasma-Therm RIE etch cluster for a variety of production uses
  • Multiple production-grade lithography systems from Suss and OAI
  • Over 100 new advanced metrology systems including automated optical inspection
  • Nearly a dozen new automated wet benches.

MEMS Foundry in Santa Barbara

We are located in the Santa Barbara area (Goleta, California) next door to the University of California, Santa Barbara, one of the top engineering universities in the world. This talent pool combines with Atomica’s multi-disciplinary team of scientists and manufacturing engineers to tackle the hardest process development and integration challenges with an eye toward manufacturability (DFM).

Atomica MEMS Foundry in Santa Barbara
Atomica MEMS Foundry near the campus of UCSB

Why choose Atomica as your MEMS Foundry partner?

  1. We are the largest U.S. based MEMS Foundry

    Atomica’s MEMS Foundry serves its customers from our manufacturing campus in Santa Barbara, California. We operate our highly sophisticated toolset on 150mm and 200mm wafers and are ISO 9001 and ITAR certified. This makes us the largest independent MEMS fab in the United States, well-positioned to support the growing demand for domestic production of critical sensors, photonics, and biochips.

  2. We offer a unique collaborative methodology to ensure program success

    At Atomica’s MEMS Foundry, we are resolved to help our customers bring their innovations to life using our proven phase-gate process to successfully navigate the challenges of design, development, prototype, scale-up, and high-volume production. Our multi-disciplinary team of scientists and manufacturing engineers tackles the hardest process development and integration challenges with an eye toward manufacturability (DFM). Our methodology uses rigorous project management to optimize resources, mitigate risks, and deliver predictable results.

  3. We have extraordinary engineering expertise

    Atomica has over 20 years of experience commercializing technologies that change the future. Our extensive experience spans the full spectrum of MEMS, including photonics, sensors, microfluidic biochips, and other micro components. We have over 25 Phds on-site and we’ve worked on over 600 programs to date. You could say we’ve seen it all. This experience combined with our volume production MEMS Foundry help ensure customers get to market fast with the highest chance of commercial success.

  4. We offer exceptional flexibility in materials and project types

    Atomica provides versatility in program scale, and standard or bespoke process development. Our MEMS Foundry has exceptionally broad materials flexibility, providing access to an extensive set of processes and materials unavailable in CMOS fabs, including noble metals, polymers, and virtually any substrate (e.g., silicon, SOI, glass, fused silica, quartz, borosilicate, piezos, and III-V).