Symposium S, Microelectromechanical Systems Materials and Devices IV, held November 29 December 3 at the 2010 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, focused on micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), technologies which were spawned from the fabrication and integration of small-scale mechanical, electrical, thermal, magnetic, fluidic, and optical sensors and actuators with micro-electronic components. MEMS and NEMS have enabled performance enhancements and manufacturing cost reductions in a number of applications, including optical displays, acceleration sensing, radio-frequency switching, drug delivery, chemical detection, and power generation and storage. Although originally based on silicon microelectronics, the reach of MEMS and NEMS has extended well beyond traditional engineering materials, and now includes nanomaterials (nanotubes, nanowires, nanoparticles), smart materials (piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials, shape memory alloys, pH-sensitive polymers), metamaterials, and biomaterials (ceramic, metallic, polymeric, composite based implant materials). While these new materials provide more freedom with regards to the design space of MEMS and NEMS, they also introduce a number of new fabrication and characterization challenges not previously encountered with silicon-based technology."

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) hold great promise for sensing and actuating on the micron scale. There is a hierarchy of increasing difficulty for placing MEMS devices in the field. Devices that do not allow contact between structural members rely mainly on mechanical properties of freestanding films. High-resolution techniques must be developed within the framework of MEMS to measure properties such as modulus and residual stress. When contact and rubbing contact are allowed, the complexities of adhesion and friction at the microscale must be understood and well controlled. Fluid interactions are similarly important for microfluidic devices. Packaging of MEMS for use in the field also requires special consideration, because it is often application specific. This book investigates various materials, characterization methods and processing techniques. These approaches represent different but useful strategies to solve MEMS challenges, and must be integrated for product realization. Topics include: deposition and characterization of Si; materials and processes for MEMS; tribology; dynamic optical characterization; packaging; LIGA; materials aspects; and characterization of MEMS processing.