6. The effects of sensor miniaturization

While miniaturization is generating a great deal of interest and excitement, it can be accompanied by real technological difficulties and fundamental physical limitations linked to the laws of scale.

To better understand them, let's look at how the various physical forces involved in microsensor operation evolve with miniaturization.

• Elastic force

  It is often involved in the design of a transducer, as it defines the stress level and associated elongations.

  In the simple case of a beam, the stiffness k is written as : $k\propto E{e}^{3}b\text{/}{\mathcal{l}}^3$

  ...