Introduction to MEMS and Microfluidics

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) refer to systems with characteristic length ranging between 1 µm and 1 mm, fabricated by integrated circuits batch processing technologies and unite mechanical and electrical components. MEMS devices and systems have wide applications in multifarious medical and industrial applications with worldwide market of billions of dollars. Examples of MEMS devices are accelerometers for automobile airbags; micropumps for inkjet printing, electronic cooling, and environmental testing; infrared detectors, digital light processing chip for projection display, etc. Microfluidics refers to fluid flow at a small size scale that causes change in fluid behavior. Microfluidic devices/systems handle a small quantity (micro- or nanoliter) of fluids (liquid or gas). The major application for handling fluids in microfluidics relates to chemical and biomedical analyses. The benefit of application of microfluidics in chemical and biomedical analysis is that they provide a total solution from sample utilization to display of analytical results.