From MEMS to NEMS: Smart chips with senses and muscles

The last half-century was transformed by the electronic revolution that essentially reproduced the human brain and its computing capacity on a chip. But over time, scientists have realized that something was missing to give life, so to speak, to the small chip with a brain: one needed to awaken its senses and develop its muscles! This challenge was solved through Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Indeed, MEMS today are equipped with the sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch through microsensors. They are also capable of physical exertion through small muscles called microactuators. These new capabilities open wide fields of imagination and important specific applications.