After earlier meetings in Enschede (NL, 1994), Basel (CH, 1996) and Banff (CDN, 1998), muTAS 2000 is the fourth international symposium on the subject of miniaturized techniques, methods, devices and systems for (bio)chemical analysis and synthesis. Initially started as a minor sub-topic in the large field of Micro System Technology (MST or MEMS), the field of muTAS is currently generally considered as one of the most important application areas of MST, which is reflected in the still rapidly growing research, development, and, above all, commercialization activities. Apart from further development and refining of the research on electrophoretic separation, electrokinetically driven flow systems, cell manipulation and analysis, miniaturized flow systems and study of microfluidics, the important new area of centrifugal microfluidics on CD devices receives broad attention. On the other hand, new innovations range from topics as exotic as photoacoustic detection in microreactors and molecular emission detection on a chip to very high-pressure microreactor devices and shear-flow driven separations. The enormous speed of the developments in this field is illustrated by the large number of new start-up companies, some of them based upon technologies that were not even published at the former meeting in Banff in 1998. All this illustrates the great excitement that continues to govern this field in which generation and analysis of (bio)chemical information using microtechnology becomes more and more entangled in what one could call micro (bio)chemical systems. This volume contains the proceedings of the fourth international symposium on Micro Total Analysis Systems (muTAS 2000), held 14-18 May 2000, at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, and organised by the MESA+ Research Institute. Cutting-edge research of all invited and contributed papers presented by the world's leading &mgr;TAS groups provide the newest state of the art of this electrifying, multidisciplinary field.

In the rapidly developing information society there is an ever-growing demand for information-supplying elements or sensors. The technology to fabricate such sensors has grown in the past few decades from a skilful activity to a mature area of scientific research and technological development. In this process, the use of silicon-based techniques has appeared to be of crucial importance, as it introduced standardized (mass) fabrication techniques, created the possibility of integrated electronics, allowed for new transduction principles, and enabled the realization of micromechanical structures for sensing or actuation. Such micromechanical structures are particularly well-suited to realize complex microsystems that improve the performance of individual sensors. Currently, a variety of sensor areas ranging from optical to magnetic and from micromechanical to (bio)chemical sensors has reached a high level of sophistication. In this MESA Monograph the proceedings of the Dutch Sensor Conference, an initiative of the Technology Foundation (STW), held at the University of Twente on March 2-3, 1998, are compiled. It comprises all the oral and poster contributions of the conference, and gives an excellent overview of the state of the art of Dutch sensor research and development. Apart from Dutch work, the contributions of two external invited experts from Switzerland are included.

In the rapidly developing information society there is an ever-growing demand for information-supplying elements or sensors. The technology to fabricate such sensors has grown in the past few decades from a skilful activity to a mature area of scientific research and technological development. In this process, the use of silicon-based techniques has appeared to be of crucial importance, as it introduced standardized (mass) fabrication techniques, created the possibility of integrated electronics, allowed for new transduction principles, and enabled the realization of micromechanical structures for sensing or actuation. Such micromechanical structures are particularly well-suited to realize complex microsystems that improve the performance of individual sensors. Currently, a variety of sensor areas ranging from optical to magnetic and from micromechanical to (bio)chemical sensors has reached a high level of sophistication. In this MESA Monograph the proceedings of the Dutch Sensor Conference, an initiative of the Technology Foundation (STW), held at the University of Twente on March 2-3, 1998, are compiled. It comprises all the oral and poster contributions of the conference, and gives an excellent overview of the state of the art of Dutch sensor research and development. Apart from Dutch work, the contributions of two external invited experts from Switzerland are included.

The MESA Research Institute of the University of Twente was created in 1990 through the joining of the research unit Sensors and Actuators with the department of Microelectronics. The multidisciplinary institute, with participation from the faculties of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Chemical Technology, was recently recognized as a Centre of Excellence by the Dutch Science Foundation. It is fully 2 equipped with modem Clean Room facilities (1000 m ) and a number of research laboratories. The objective of MESA is to perform research and development of systems in modem information technology, and on the units on which they are based: the microstructures that process and transduce signals. The institute gradually expanded during the past few years till some 125 persons in 1994. Given the wide variety of research subjects within MESA, it has been decided to start a MESA Monographs series, appearing on a more or less regular, yearly basis. In this way, after some time a good overview of research topics under investigation at MESA will be obtained. The first volume of this series coincides with the Proceedings of pTAS '94, the first Workshop on Micro Total Analysis Systems, held on November 21-22 at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands. IlTAS has recently been defined as the first strategic research orientation of MESA, aiming at synergetic collaboration between the different disciplines present in MESA.

After earlier meetings in Enschede (NL, 1994), Basel (CH, 1996) and Banff (CDN, 1998), muTAS 2000 is the fourth international symposium on the subject of miniaturized techniques, methods, devices and systems for (bio)chemical analysis and synthesis. Initially started as a minor sub-topic in the large field of Micro System Technology (MST or MEMS), the field of muTAS is currently generally considered as one of the most important application areas of MST, which is reflected in the still rapidly growing research, development, and, above all, commercialization activities. Apart from further development and refining of the research on electrophoretic separation, electrokinetically driven flow systems, cell manipulation and analysis, miniaturized flow systems and study of microfluidics, the important new area of centrifugal microfluidics on CD devices receives broad attention. On the other hand, new innovations range from topics as exotic as photoacoustic detection in microreactors and molecular emission detection on a chip to very high-pressure microreactor devices and shear-flow driven separations. The enormous speed of the developments in this field is illustrated by the large number of new start-up companies, some of them based upon technologies that were not even published at the former meeting in Banff in 1998. All this illustrates the great excitement that continues to govern this field in which generation and analysis of (bio)chemical information using microtechnology becomes more and more entangled in what one could call micro (bio)chemical systems. This volume contains the proceedings of the fourth international symposium on Micro Total Analysis Systems (muTAS 2000), held 14-18 May 2000, at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, and organised by the MESA+ Research Institute. Cutting-edge research of all invited and contributed papers presented by the world's leading &mgr;TAS groups provide the newest state of the art of this electrifying, multidisciplinary field.