September 5, 2012, Seoul – STMicroelectronics (ST), a global semiconductor company providing a wide range of electronic applications and the world’s leading MEMS manufacturer[1], announced that it will mass-produce the world’s first MEMS microphone in a plastic package. This technology is patented and will result in space savings and increased durability in a variety of general and professional voice input applications, ranging from mobile phones and tablets to sound meters and noise-canceling headphones.

While other MEMS microphone manufacturers still use devices with metal covers, ST offers a unique product with the industry's only plastic package. ST's latest microphone assembly process promises excellent electrical and acoustic performance, superior mechanical robustness, and a slimmer form factor, while reducing the size of microphone chips for upcoming products to 2x2mm. This technological development enables the embedding of microphones within silicon cavities, ultimately accelerating the miniaturization of the devices themselves.

ST’s MEMS microphones facilitate assembly on flat-cable PCBs, simplifying the design of modern consumer products with significant space constraints. This already patented packaging technology allows equipment manufacturers to mount the "voice recognition port" at either the top or bottom of the package, enabling the slimmest possible designs as well as the shortest acoustic path from the surrounding environment to the microphone. Microphones with a sound hole at the top port are suitable for the size and sound input location constraints of laptops and tablets, while bottom microphones are primarily used in mobile phones.

Rigorous pressure and drop tests proved that plastic-packaged microphones are significantly more durable than conventional metal-covered microphones. When a force of 40 N was applied—equivalent to placing a 4 kg weight on a small chip—the metal-packaged microphones broke, whereas ST's plastic-packaged microphones remained intact. Similar results were observed when 15 N of force was applied to both sides and the devices were dropped 40 times from a height of 1.5 meters. This exceptional robustness was demonstrated in both flat cable PCBs and conventional rigid PCB designs.

ST's plastic package microphones use an internal shielding cage to enhance electromagnetic immunity[2], and are, of course, compatible with standard surface mount assembly machines and existing handling equipment.

This new product is applicable to a wide variety of audio applications, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, portable media players, gaming devices, and cameras, as well as noise-canceling headphones and hearing aids. Furthermore, since it can be integrated with ST’s Smart Voice Processor for multi-microphone applications or Sound Terminal™ audio processing chips, a complete one-stop solution for cutting-edge sound input applications is provided.

More detailed information about ST's MEMS microphones can be found at the following site: http://www.st.com/internet/analog/subclass/1564.jsp