MEMS is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size, and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres to a millimetre, although components arranged in arrays can be more than 1000 mm2. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the surroundings.
Microtechnology deals with technology whose features have dimensions of the order of one micrometre. It focuses on physical and chemical processes as well as the production or manipulation of structures with one-micrometre magnitude.
Surface micromachining builds microstructures by deposition and etching structural layers over a substrate. This is different from Bulk micromachining, in which a silicon substrate wafer is selectively etched to produce structures.
The grating light valve (GLV) is a "micro projection" technology that operates using a dynamically adjustable diffraction grating. It competes with other light valve technologies such as Digital Light Processing (DLP) and liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) for implementation in video projector devices such as rear-projection televisions. The use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in optical applications, which is known as optical MEMS or micro-opto-electro-mechanical structures (MOEMS), has enabled the possibility to combine the mechanical, electrical, and optical components in tiny-scale.
Microfabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures of micrometre scales and smaller. Historically, the earliest microfabrication processes were used for integrated circuit fabrication, also known as "semiconductor manufacturing" or "semiconductor device fabrication". In the last two decades microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microsystems, micromachines and their subfields, microfluidics/lab-on-a-chip, optical MEMS, RF MEMS, PowerMEMS, BioMEMS and their extension into nanoscale have re-used, adapted or extended microfabrication methods. Flat-panel displays and solar cells are also using similar techniques.
A MEMS thermal actuator is a microelectromechanical device that typically generates motion by thermal expansion amplification. A small amount of thermal expansion of one part of the device translates to a large amount of deflection of the overall device. Usually fabricated out of doped single crystal silicon or polysilicon as a complex compliant member, the increase in temperature can be achieved internally by electrical resistive heating or by a heat source capable of locally introducing heat. Microfabricated thermal actuators can be integrated into micromotors.
Microoptomechanical systems (MOMS), also written as micro-optomechanical systems, are a special class of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) which use optical and mechanical, but not electronic components.
The digital micromirror device, or DMD, is the microoptoelectromechanical system (MOEMS) that is the core of the trademarked DLP projection technology from Texas Instruments (TI). Texas Instrument's DMD was created by solid-state physicist and TI Fellow Emeritus Dr. Larry Hornbeck in 1987. However, the technology goes back to 1973 with Harvey C. Nathanson's use of millions of microscopically small moving mirrors to create a video display of the type now found in digital projectors.
Boston Micromachines Corporation is a US company operating out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Boston Micromachines manufactures and develops instruments based on MEMS technology to perform open and closed-loop adaptive optics. The technology is applied in astronomy, beam shaping, vision science, retinal imaging, microscopy, laser communications, and national defense. The instruments developed at Boston Micromachines include deformable mirrors, optical modulators, and retinal imaging systems, all of which utilize adaptive optics technology to enable wavefront manipulation capabilities which enhance the quality of the final image.
Microelectromechanical system oscillators are devices that generate highly stable reference frequencies to measure time. The core technologies used in MEMS oscillators have been in development since the mid-1960s, but have only been sufficiently advanced for commercial applications since 2006. MEMS oscillators incorporate MEMS resonators, which are microelectromechanical structures that define stable frequencies. MEMS clock generators are MEMS timing devices with multiple outputs for systems that need more than a single reference frequency. MEMS oscillators are a valid alternative to older, more established quartz crystal oscillators, offering better resilience against vibration and mechanical shock, and reliability with respect to temperature variation.
A microscanner, or micro scanning mirror, is a microoptoelectromechanical system (MOEMS) in the category of micromirror actuators for dynamic light modulation. Depending upon the type of microscanner, the modulatory movement of a single mirror can be either translatory or rotational, on one or two axes. In the first case, a phase shifting effect takes place. In the second case, the incident light wave is deflected.
The Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) is one of seven current organizational divisions of DARPA, an agency responsible for the development of new technology for the United States Armed Forces. It is sometimes referred to as the Microelectronics Technology Office.
Richard Stephen Muller is an American professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of the University of California at Berkeley.
Electrostatic–pneumatic activation is an actuation method for shaping thin membranes for microelectromechanical and microoptoelectromechanical systems. This method benefits from operation at high speed and low power consumption. It can also cause large deflection on thin membranes. Electrostatic-pneumatic MEMS devices usually consist of two membranes with a sealed cavity in between. One membrane-calling actuator deflects into the cavity by electrostatic pressure to compress air and increase air pressure. Elevated pressure pushes the other membrane and causes a dome shape. With direct electrostatic actuation on the membrane, a concave shape is achieved.
Kurt E. Petersen is an American inventor and entrepreneur. He is known primarily for his work on microelectromechanical systems. Petersen was elected a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering in 2001.
A nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relay is an electrically actuatedswitch that is built on the nanometer scale using semiconductor fabrication techniques. They are designed to operate in replacement of, or in conjunction with, traditional semiconductor logic. While the mechanical nature of NEM relays makes them switch much slower than solid-state relays, they have many advantageous properties, such as zero current leakage and low power consumption, which make them potentially useful in next generation computing.
Roger Thomas Howe is the William E. Ayer Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He earned a B.S. degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 and 1984, respectively. He was a faculty member at Carnegie-Mellon University from 1984-1985, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1985-1987, and at UC Berkeley between 1987-2005, where he was the Robert S. Pepper Distinguished Professor. He has been a faculty member of the School of Engineering at Stanford since 2005.
A piezoelectric microelectromechanical system (piezoMEMS) is a miniature or microscopic device that uses piezoelectricity to generate motion and carry out its tasks. It is a microelectromechanical system that takes advantage of an electrical potential that appears under mechanical stress. PiezoMEMS can be found in a variety of applications, such as switches, inkjet printer heads, sensors, micropumps, and energy harvesters.
Niels Quack is a Swiss and German engineer specialized in optical micro engineering. He is a SNSF professor at EPFL and director of the Photonic Micro- and Nanosystems Laboratory at its school of engineering.
Ha Duong Ngo is an academician, research scholar in the field of Electrical Engineering/Microsystems Engineering.
