The Increasing Power in Shrinking Forms
There are different industries that are currently benefiting from small forms in manufacturing. It’s important to understand that just because they’re called “small forms,” it doesn’t mean that they are weak or too frail to use. In fact, small forms are sophisticated, high in power and in density.
Industries Using Microfabrication
There are a lot of factors that go into creating such tiny, functional parts and these are all manufactured to be heat resistant so that they can be used in high pressure environments. Small is mighty when it comes to small parts manufacturing, and the industries that most benefit from these small forms include:
- Automotive
- Telecom
- Datacom
- Medical
- Communications
- Gaming
- And so many more!
These industries are not exhaustive, and given the level of market penetration, it’s not a surprise that there has been a global demand for high current and low voltage digital ICs. Almost every single embedded system has been penetrated by digital ICs.
Uses for Micromanufacturing
For example, in automotive applications, there has been increasing development in advanced driver assistance systems. There are also those new systems to do with collision avoidance systems.
These are designed in small form to prevent catastrophic crashes, bypass human error and do more to keep people safe. This proves an increasing power in small forms and you can ensure antilock brake systems, stability control and more.
Throughout the consumer electronics industries, there has been a much higher demand for functionality that mirrors the Internet of Things. People want better machine to machine functionality which calls for advanced digital ICs and the cloud that we use daily in our businesses also needs better small parts manufacturing, too.
Use of Micromanufacturing Metals
While these are very powerful, they are also temperamental in their requirements. We work to make everything smaller and more powerful, more convenient, and this means that we need to ensure that we efficiently power digital ICs with low noise and high efficiency.
With increased power comes higher transceiver speeds. In certain FPGAs, you will find that high current levels are dictated due to the higher power consumption that comes with fine geometry circuit switching.
These are the ICs that are exceptionally fast, and they cycle from near-zero amps to those within tens to hundreds of nanoseconds. There has been a recent trend in high performance digital ICs, including GPUs, FPGAs and microprocessors that is rapidly raising current demands. This is coupled with dropping operating voltages and it’s a result of shrinking line width wafer fabrication technologies.
There are current voltage demands that are only a part of the supply picture, and digital IC advancements come with a lot of other requirements and that includes waiting for a faster transient response.
If you want to look into the increasing power in shrinking forms, and the process of small parts manufacturing, there are resources that discuss the types of metals used, and the techniques for manufacturing besides 3D printing.