S ince the mid-1980s, minimally invasive surgery has evolved with the creation of such devices as 3-mm instruments and miniature probes for percutaneous therapies. However, one must ask, “When does it end? How small is too small?” This fundamental question is the foundation of microelectromechanical systems or MEMS technology. Although images of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, in which a group ...

Microelectromechanical ~MEMS! gyroscopes have wide-ranging applications including automotive and consumer electronics markets. Among them, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible MEMS gyroscopes enable integration of signal conditioning circuitry, multiaxis integration, small size, and low cost. This paper reviews various designs and fabrication processes for integrated MEMS gyroscop...

Micromirrors fabricated by MEMS technology have demonstrated to be important sensing or actuating components in many industrial and biomedical applications such as laser scanning displays, optical switch matrices, and biomedical imaging systems. In this paper, various actuation mechanisms for micromirrors are described. A new geometric configuration of a stacked micromirror that is actuated by ...

This work demonstrates the feasibility to obtain copper nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) relays using a commercial complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology (ST 65 nm) following an intra CMOS-MEMS approach. We report experimental demonstration of contact-mode nano-electromechanical switches obtaining low operating voltage (5.5 V), good ION/IOFF (103) ratio, abrupt subthreshold swing...

In recent years, nickel has found new applications in RF microfabricated filters and MEMS switches, as it is proving to be a convenient structural material and suitable for realizing power-efficient electrothermal buckle-beam microactuators. While nickel is becoming a material of choice for processing engineers, there is a serious issue of RF characterization at microwave frequencies. This pape...

Future microwave networks require miniature high-performance tunable elements such as switches, inductors, and capacitors. In this paper, high performance variable capacitor was fabricated by simple microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The capacitance and quality (Q) factor at 1 GHz are 0.792 pF and 51.6. The pull-in voltage is 13.5 V and the tuning ratio of the capacitor is more t...