Micro Electromechanical Systems is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nana-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. MEMS are also referred to as micromachines or Micro Systems Technology - MST (in Europe). MEMS are separate and distinct from the hypothetical vision of molecular nanotechnology or molecular electronics.
MEMS are made up of components between 1 to 100 micrometers in size and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometers to a millimeter. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data, the microprocessor and several components that interact with the outside such as micro sensors. At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical 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.The potential of very small machines was appreciated long before the technology existed that could make them----see, for example, Richard Feynman's famous 1960 lecture There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technologies, normally used to make electronics. These include molding and plating, wet etching and dry etching electro discharge machining and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.MEMS are made up of components between 1 to 100 micrometers in size and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometers to a millimeter. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data, the microprocessor and several components that interact with the outside such as micro sensors. At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical 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.The potential of very small machines was appreciated long before the technology existed that could make them----see, for example, Richard Feynman's famous 1960 lecture There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technologies, normally used to make electronics. These include molding and plating, wet etching and dry etching electro discharge machining and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.
