Microtechnology is the technology of very small things, typically refers to MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and NEMS (Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems). It covers a wide range of devices and components, from the microscopic sensors used in medical implants to the giant telescopes made possible by advances in microfabrication.
The field has its roots in traditional semiconductor manufacturing, which began to explore miniaturization as early as the 1950s. In those days, engineers were limited by the size of the smallest features they could etch into silicon wafers using photolithography. But they soon developed new techniques that allowed them to shrink feature sizes even further. This led to a continuous reduction in device sizes over ensuing decades—a trend that continues today.
One key enabler of this miniaturization has been what’s known as Moore’s Law, named after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation. Moore observed in 1965 that the number of transistors on a chip doubles approximately every two years—and indeed, this trend has held true for several decades now. As transistor counts have increased, so too has circuit density and speed; at the same time, costs have fallen sharply. All of these factors have driven ever-smaller devices and ever-more complex applications.
Today’s microdevices are used in an astonishing array of products and systems: from mobile phones and digital cameras to automotive engine control systems and aircraft flight control surfaces. They are also finding their way into increasingly sensitive environments such as inside our bodies (in pacemakers and other implantable devices) and out in space (in satellites and other spacecraft). And as device sizes continue to shrink—approaching the atomic scale—new opportunities are emerging for manipulating matter at extremely small length scales with nanotechnology.