Historical development of MEMS

MEMS grew out of integrated-circuit technology: once silicon was understood as an electronic material, researchers began using it as a mechanical one too.

Period	Milestone
1954	C. S. Smith reports the piezoresistive effect in silicon and germanium
1959	Richard Feynman's lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" inspires miniaturisation
1967	H. Nathanson's resonant gate transistor, an early micromechanical device
1970s	Bulk-micromachined silicon pressure sensors become commercial
1982	K. Petersen's paper "Silicon as a Mechanical Material"
1980s	Surface micromachining and polysilicon microstructures; first micromotors
1990s	MEMS accelerometers for automotive airbags; micromirror arrays for projection
2000s	Inertial sensors in phones, RF MEMS, microfluidics and BioMEMS
Today	Wearables, implants, lab-on-chip and IoT sensors

Exam tip

Remember 3 anchor dates (1954, 1959, 1982) and one application per decade.