The Multi-User MEMS Processes, or MUMPs®, is a well-established, Multi Project Wafer commercial program that provides customers with cost-effective access to MEMS prototyping and a seamless transition into volume manufacturing. MEMSCAP® offers three unique stand-alone, multi-mask MEMS processes in MUMPs® MPW: PolyMUMPs, SOIMUMPs, and PiezoMUMPs.

The MUMPs® program has run consistently since 1992. Over 80 full process runs have been completed and shipped over that time to hundreds of organizations. One key to the long-running program is the amount of information and reference material readily available to users of the program. MEMSCAP® also takes great care to provide timely responses to technical questions and design scenarios. While success is very design-dependent, MEMSCAP® aims to provide as much information as possible so the customer can be successful with minimum design iterations.

All of this Reference Material is at your fingertips here on these web pages including Design Rules, CAD setup files, element libraries, run measurement data, and Technical FAQs. We also offer a "Beyond the Design Rules" guide for PolyMUMPs, which provides a glimpse of Microsoft Research's experience with the service and how they were successful pushing the limits of the process.

MUMPs® is low-cost with quick turnaround. The processes are Standard Processes so the properties and layer-to-layer dynamics are well-understood and documented. Using MUMPs® supports the pragmatic design strategy utilized by MEMSCAP®'s commercial customers, where the designer starts with a fixed process and then creates a design optimized for that process. This approach is superior to a design-first strategy because it leads to fewer design iterations, lower- and fixed-cost development, and less potholes in the road to both functionality and volume production.

Through MEMSCAP®'s MUMPs-PLUS! service, customers can choose to modify the Standard Processes by changing thicknesses, sequences, or materials. Though this involves additional cost, MUMPs-PLUS! is still less expensive than Custom Fabrication because the service leverages the regular MUMPs® runs for the steps that are common. For instance, a customer who wanted a thicker Poly2 layer and some backside processing would pay the standard rate for all of the standard steps plus the costs for the additional steps. To facilitate this processing, MEMSCAP sequesters wafers from the lot to be used for those standard steps required by the customer's device. Mask costs are captured as part of the standard die site rate unless the MUMPs-PLUS! order requires additional photolithography levels.

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