Novel mems devices get investment

The Californian company has taken packaging technology, rather than silicon lithography, as the base on which it builds micromachines – created from over 15 years of research and over $20m in funding at the University of California, Irvine, according to the firm.

For example, it can create an electro-mechanical relay within the thickness of a PCB – admittedly a thick one – and “the world’s first miniaturised microwave relay that can hot-switch power” (below, said Integra.

2 x 2 x 1mm relay

“For the first time in 30 years, we are introducing a new paradigm that surpasses these limits [of additive thin-film manufacturing] and enables the development of a whole host of micro-devices that were before not possible to build,” claimed company CEO Paul Dhillon.

Since its beginning in 2015, the firm has been customer funded with contracts from firms including Lockheed Martin and Teledyne. 

Inside the 2 x 2mm dc-12GHz relay, that can carry 80W and hot-switch 20W, actuated by a 1ms <3V pulse, according to Integra

Planned products include: Vibration-based power sources, in-ear-canal hearing devices, in-body medical sensors (pictured), and micro-fluidic sensors.  “This series-A financing is targeted towards expanding the team and infrastructure and move these products into pilot production,” according to Integra. ​

The funding round was led by Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Kairos Ventures.

Korean substrate make Daeduck Electronics and Japanese plating company OM Sangyo will provide manufacturing support.

“We are excited about the opportunities Integra’s manufacturing paradigm provides by leveraging our capabilities and infrastructure,” said Daeduck CEO Gregory Kim.

We have followed and supported the work done by [process inventor] Mark Bachman at the University [UCI] for several years and have witnessed the outstanding growth and maturation of the technology,” according to OM Sangyo president Keitaro Namba. “Integra’s ability to integrate our processes into micro-device products expands our business into different markets.”

To avoid confusion – there is more than one firm whose name starts with ‘Integra’.