MEMS

Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nanoscale into "Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems" (NEMS) and Nanotechnology. It should not be confused with the hypothetical vision of Molecular nanotechnology.

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MEMS devices refer to mechanical components on the micrometre size and include 3D lithographic features of various geometries. They are typically manufactured using planar processing similar to semiconductor processes such as surface micromachining and/or bulk micromachining . These devices generally range in size from a micrometre (a millionth of a metre) to a millimetre (thousandth of a metre). At these size scales, a human's intuitive sense of physics do not always hold true. Due to MEMS' large surface area to volume ratio, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass. They are fabricated using modified silicon fabrication technology (used to make electronics), molding and plating, wet etching (KOH, TMAH) and dry etching (RIE and DRIE), electro discharge machining (EDM), and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.

NEMS: NEMS or nanoelectromechanical systems are similar to MEMS but smaller. They hold promise to revolutionize abilities to measure small displacements and forces at a molecular scale, and are related to nanotechnology....

Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology comprises technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1 to 100 nm. (One nanometer equals one thousandth of a micrometer or one millionth of a millimeter.) The term has sometimes been applied to microscopic technology. This article discusses nanotechnology, nanoscience...

Molecular nanotechnology: :MNT redirects here. For the Unix directory, see /mnt....