Soft Microsystems - A Paradigm Shift in Engineering Small System

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Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Nguyen, NT
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2015
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Show full item recordAbstract
Conventional microsystems including sensors and actuators are made of rigid materials such as silicon because of their origin from the microelectronics. However, most micro- and nanosytems found in the nature are made of soft materials allowing them to deform or even morph depending on the task and external environment. The deformability allows natural microsystems to exceed the performance of their rigid micromachined counterparts. Inspired by nature, recent research efforts have been focused on soft microsystems including sensors, actuators and microfluidic platforms, promising a completely new approach in engineering small ...
View more >Conventional microsystems including sensors and actuators are made of rigid materials such as silicon because of their origin from the microelectronics. However, most micro- and nanosytems found in the nature are made of soft materials allowing them to deform or even morph depending on the task and external environment. The deformability allows natural microsystems to exceed the performance of their rigid micromachined counterparts. Inspired by nature, recent research efforts have been focused on soft microsystems including sensors, actuators and microfluidic platforms, promising a completely new approach in engineering small systems with a broad range of applications.
View less >
View more >Conventional microsystems including sensors and actuators are made of rigid materials such as silicon because of their origin from the microelectronics. However, most micro- and nanosytems found in the nature are made of soft materials allowing them to deform or even morph depending on the task and external environment. The deformability allows natural microsystems to exceed the performance of their rigid micromachined counterparts. Inspired by nature, recent research efforts have been focused on soft microsystems including sensors, actuators and microfluidic platforms, promising a completely new approach in engineering small systems with a broad range of applications.
View less >
Journal Title
Micro and Nanosystems
Volume
7
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 Bentham Science Publishers. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)