Vijay K Varadan, Xiaoning Hang and Vasundara V Varadan
Published by John Wiley & Sons

Over the last few years, the subjects of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology have garnered a lot of interest, especially in the trade press and on the conference circuit. In recent months, the publisher John Wiley has co-ordinated and published three titles in this new field of electronics.

I chose to review Microstereolithography and Other Fabrication Techniques for 3D MEMS.

First, what is the subject matter all about?

MEMS are basically actuators, micro sensors that can be used to complement existing electronics to help reduce size and cost. They use semiconductor technology to produce these products. One well-known example are the micro mirrors used in data projectors.

The main aim of this text is to discuss the methods of producing parts. It makes good use of images and diagrams to explain the process steps in fabrication. The authors have collected the details and current status of most techniques being researched in the industry. Using dynamic mask projection, researchers have been able to produce wine goblets at 200 um and turbine blades with a diameter of 1300 m.

The final chapter in the book outlines applications such as microvalves, pumps and actuators. The book was interesting and informative, with a large number of illustrations and images to illustrate example products and techniques. However, some of the images were dark or had poor definition.

The other two books in this field from John Wiley & Sons are: Future Trends in Microelectronics - The Nano Millennium by Serge Luryi, Jimmy Xu and Alex Zaslavsky and RF MEMS & Their Applications by Vijay K Varadan, K J Vinoy and K A Jose.

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