Microsystems - Sensors, actuators and applications

Microsystems, which first appeared in the late 1980s and were commercialized in the 1990s and 2000s, continue to attract significant interest in industry, particularly due to their small size and innovative measurement capabilities. This technology involves integrating microsensors or actuators and embedded processing electronics onto a single silicon chip. The prospects for integration and collective manufacturing offered by microelectronics have opened up development opportunities in both the industrial and consumer worlds with the rapid rise of the Internet of Things.

These devices are known as MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) in the United States, micromachines in Japan, and MST (MicroSystems Technologies) in Europe, or more simply microsystems in France. The first products to be marketed were accelerometers for car airbags, inkjet printer heads, and micromirrors for video projectors, followed by microswitches and tunable filters for telecommunications, and microfluidic chips for environmental and health applications.

The article begins with essential definitions relating to the design of microsystems, with a summary of the manufacturing technologies available. It then presents the main families of microsystems (inertial, radio frequency, optical, biological) associated with industrial applications (automotive, aeronautics, robotics, etc.), as well as more recent developments in the environmental and health sectors. It concludes with some prospects for developments in the field of MEMS.

He adds to the article [E 2 305] .