Pure-play Israeli foundry TowerJazz has signed on to build a line of first-generation microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based loudspeaker semiconductors for Audio Pixels Ltd.
The loudspeaker chips will introduce a new generation of sound performance and design demands for devices being built for the consumer electronics, industrial and medical markets, Audio Pixels says. The company says it chose TowerJazz because of its MEMS manufacturing technology, including its particle-free, deep silicon etch technology and thick films with controlled low stress.
Audio Pixels says its loudspeaker devices generate sound waves directly from a digital audio stream using MEMS rather than conventional loudspeaker elements. Using Digital Sound Reconstruction techniques means these chips are smaller, thinner and clearer-sounding as well as more power-efficient compared to traditional loudspeaker devices. The MEMS-based silicon chip can be used as a standalone micro-speaker or cascaded into multiples for any loudspeaker application.
