MEMS and Nano Technology for the Handheld, Portable Electronic and the Automotive Markets

Large consumer markets, such as the market for handheld, portable electronic devices and the market for automobiles, rely on new technologies to meet more demanding goals for cost, performance, size, weight and power. The role of both MEMS and nano technology in these large markets will be described. MEMS technology is already a mature technology in the automotive field, but new MEMS devices, as well as new nano sensors show promise to revolutionize automotive technology by making possible the measurement of new physical quantities that have never been directly measured in the automotive field before. For automotive applications, the primary factors are cost and performance. For handheld, portable electronic devices, both MEMS and nano technology will be used for increasing the functionality of the wireless communication, but then be applied to providing additional functionality. For these electronic applications, the primary factors are performance, size and power. A wide variety of examples will be given as the overall trends in these markets are described and illustrated.