Microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems

thumb|MEMS microcantilever resonating inside a scanning electron microscope thumb|Proposal submitted to DARPA in 1986 first introducing the term "microelectromechanical systems"

Smartdust is a system of many tiny microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) such as sensors, robots, or other devices, that can detect, for example, light, temperature, vibration, magnetism, or chemicals. They are usually operated on a computer network wirelessly and are distributed over some area to perform tasks, usually sensing through radio-frequency identification. Without an antenna of much greater size the range of tiny smart dust communication devices is measured in a few millimeters and they may be vulnerable to electromagnetic disablement and destruction by microwave exposure.

thumb|An example of a bio-MEMS device is this automated Fluorescence in situ hybridization|FISH microchip, which integrates a reagent multiplexer, a cell chamber with a thin-film heater layer, and a peristaltic pump. Bio-MEMS is an abbreviation for biomedical (or biological) microelectromechanical systems. Bio-MEMS have considerable overlap, and is sometimes considered synonymous, with lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and micro total analysis systems (). Bio-MEMS is typically more focused on mechanical parts and microfabrication technologies made suitable for biological applications. On the other hand, lab

French research institute for electronics and information technologies

American physicist and chemist (1909-1985)