Taking manufacturing to the microscale Taking manufacturing to the microscale Applying manufacturing methods for computer chips to make tiny mechanical devices with moving parts is the objective of Norman Tien, professor of engineering at the University of California, Davis.
Some MEMS are already in commercial use, for example as motion sensors that trigger airbags in cars.
Other applications are in miniaturization of optical and wireless communication systems, and in building chips that can perform chemical reactions on a miniature scale. These mirrors form the core of an all-optical switch box for use in optical communications systems. The switch box would use arrays of these moving micromirrors to control light pulses from fiber-optic cables. This would avoid having to convert optical pulses to electronic signals, switch them, and then turn them back into light pulses, said Tien. Such an optical switch box could potentially have hundreds or thousands of input and output connections, compared to 16 each for electronic switching boxes, he said.