By Ben PilkingtonAug 8 2022 From microelectromechanical system technology, which miniaturized electrical components to the scale of micrometers , engineers of the tiny only have one direction left to explore: smaller. Today, scientists are making devices more functional and smaller while the NEMS market is growing.
In the 2000s, the market and range of applications for NEMS devices have both expanded, and research continues to shrink electromechanical systems to increasingly minuscule limits. Bottom-up approaches that apply chemistry to make components self-assemble on a molecule-by-molecule basis. This enables manufacturers to make smaller structures, although it is harder to control the outcome of the manufacturing process.
NEMS-based cantilevers are also used in various other sensing and scanning probe devices and can operate at very high frequencies of around 100 MHz. Another pioneering research avenue for NEMS technology is bio-nanoelectromechanical systems that combine biological elements with synthetic structures. BioNEMS devices have applications in medicine as well as nanorobotics, with the potential to function as proteins, DNA, and even nanoscale autonomous robots.
Futuristic applications in advanced, lightning-fast computing, wearable technology, biomedicine, and nanorobotics may only be a few years out of reach. The future will be smaller.