Recent Trends in Structures and Interfaces of MEMS Transducers for Audio Applications: A Review.

In recent years, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology has had an impressive impact in the field of acoustic transducers, allowing the development of smart, low-cost, and compact audio systems that are employed in a wide variety of highly topical applications (consumer devices, medical equipment, automotive systems, and many more). This review, besides analyzing the main integrated sound transduction principles typically exploited, surveys the current State-of-the-Art scenario, presenting the recent performance advances and trends of MEMS microphones and speakers. In addition, the interface Integrated Circuits (ICs) needed to properly read the sensed signals or, on the other hand, to drive the actuation structures are addressed with the aim of offering a complete overview of the currently adopted solutions.

Readout IC Architectures and Strategies for Uncooled Micro-Bolometers Infrared Focal Plane Arrays: A Review.

InfraRed Focal Plane Arrays (IRFPAs) are crucial components in a wide range of applications, including night vision, thermal imaging and gas sensing. Among the various types of IRFPAs, micro-bolometer-based ones have gained significant attention due to their high sensitivity, low noise and low cost. However, their performance is heavily dependent on the readout interface, which converts the analog electrical signals provided by the micro-bolometers into digital signals for further processing and analysis.