MEMS is the underlying technology behind antilock brakes and vehicle airbags, and is used in numerous industrial and commercial products, including inkjet printers, projection systems, large-screen and digital televisions, optical networking gear, medical imaging and diagnostic equipment and battlefield displays.
MEMS stands for microelectromechanical systems. MEMS devices combine electronic circuitry with miniaturized mechanical devices, such as sensors, motors or pumps, on a silicon substrate that can be smaller than a grain of sand. The MEMS motors and other components can even be smaller in diameter than a human air.
Components are assembled on silicon using integrated circuit production techniques, and the MEMS devices that are generated are sometimes called “systems on a chip”.
Where can you find MEMS today?
The industrial world is not a stranger to MEMS. For example, Analog Devices produces and ships more than one million MEMS airbag sensors each week.
Designs and production techniques for the MEMS components are well established becasue the components are used in mature market segments such as projection systems, consumer electronics and medical imaging.
