Engineering microscopic machines

Abstract

In the next 50 years, structural engineering of silicon may have as profound an impact on society as did the miniaturization of electronics in the preceding decades. Electronics computing and memory circuits, as powerful as they are, do nothing more than switch electrons and route them on their way over tiny wires. Micromechanical devices will supply electronic systems with a much needed window to the physical world, allowing them to sense and control motion, light, sound, heat and other physical forces. The coupling of mechanical and electronic systems will produce dramatic technical advances across diverse scientific and engineering disciplines. Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, is the name given to the practice of making and combining miniaturized mechanical and electronic components. MEMS devices are made using manufacturing processes that are similar, and in some cases identical, to those required for crafting electronic components. This paper describes briefly surface micromachining & fabrication techniques, and gives examples of applications such as miniature microscopes, personal spectrometers, etc.