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Monday, March 05, 2007

"MEMS: HP takes MEMS, Moore to nanotech era"

Hewlett-Packard Co. pioneered microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for printheads in the 1980s. By combining integrated electronics with microfluidic channels, HP realized what it calls the "thermal-inkjet Moore's Law." Today's printheads feature Pentium-class microcontrollers on the front side of the chip, with the back side covered with microfluidic channels supporting up to 3,900 inkjet nozzles. Now HP is applying its expertise in MEMS and CMOS integration to extend the semiconductor Moore's Law, from seismic-grade sensors to maskless lithography to nanotechnology approaching the atomic scale. Tim Weber, direc- tor of research and development for HP Labs' Technology Development Operation, described that work to EE Times contributing editor R. Colin Johnson.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197700410