Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS)

An Introduction to MEMS 

 

 

Prime Faraday Technology Watch – January 2002 

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MEMS, an acronym that originated in the United States, is also referred to as Microsystems 

Technology (MST) in Europe and Micromachines in Japan.  Regardless of terminology, the 

uniting factor of a MEMS device is in the way it is made.  While the device electronics are 

fabricated using ‘computer chip’ IC technology, the micromechanical components are 

fabricated by sophisticated manipulations of silicon and other substrates using 

micromachining processes.  Processes such as bulk and surface micromachining, as well as 

high-aspect-ratio micromachining (HARM) selectively remove parts of the silicon or add 

additional structural layers to form the mechanical and electromechanical components.  While 

integrated circuits are designed to exploit the electrical properties of silicon, MEMS takes 

advantage of either silicon’s mechanical properties or both its electrical and mechanical 

properties. 

In the most general form, MEMS consist of 

mechanical microstructures, microsensors, 

microactuators and microelectronics, all integrated 

onto the same silicon chip.  This is shown 

schematically in Figure 1. 

Microsensors detect changes in the system’s 

environment by measuring mechanical, thermal, 

magnetic, chemical or electromagnetic information 

or phenomena.  Microelectronics process this 

information and signal the microactuators to react 

and create some form of changes to the environment. 

 

MEMS devices are very small; their components are usually microscopic.  Levers, gears, 

pistons, as well as motors and even steam engines have all been fabricated by MEMS (Figure 

2).  However, MEMS is not just about the miniaturization of mechanical components or 

making things out of silicon (in fact, the term MEMS is actually misleading as many 

micromachined devices are not mechanical in any sense).  MEMS is a manufacturing 

technology; a paradigm for designing and creating complex mechanical devices and systems 

as well as their integrated electronics using batch fabrication techniques. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.  Schematic illustration of 

MEMS components. 

Figure 2. (a) A MEMS silicon motor together with a strand of human hair [1], and (b) 

the legs of a spider mite standing on gears from a micro-engine [2 - Sandia National 

Labs, SUMMiT *Technology, http://mems.sandia.gov]. 

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