Future IMS and NanoDevices

Forthcoming nanodevices, will follow the paradigm of MEMS, accentuated: to one side, nanoelectronics devices will continue to follow their high volume, very highly capital-intensive path, to the other - Nano-electro-mechanical devices (NEMS) shall diversify still further due to the continuously increasing fragmentation of market needs. Additional trends proper to the nanoscopic dimensions of the devices involved shall appear. One important trend, in multiple dimensions, is that of convergence: Convergence of bottom up techniques and top-down techniques as well as convergence of Nano-, Bio-, Information, Cognition. This shall have a strong impact in terms of the diversification of equipment and human-resource skills and of requirements for the coexistence of different types of infrastructure. In this context, integration and packaging will play an extremely important role. Last but not least, quality control will undergo a fundamental paradigm shift to encompass functions such as the influence of the nanodevice on the human body and on nature, including aspects such as nanotoxicity. In light of this continuously increasing complexity and convergence, the importance of international cooperation, in which the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Program (IMS) is a major vector, is more than obvious.