micro system technology

Analysis systems for petrochemistry and gas analysis, process control and surveillance of environment as well as in biotechnology and medicine systems are promising fields of application for micro and nano technologies. Such micro analysis systems combine low cost of investment, installation and use with precise and fast measurements at low consumption of probe and energy. For a successful introduction of such systems, however, these technologies have to be incorporated throughout the complete system, otherwise the advantages of high integration density, low cost of fabrication at high functionality will not be obtained. Various such micro analysis systems are presented e.g. a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer and an infrared measurement system.

Since more than one decade, building electronic or optical devices on a nanometer scale has been pushed for a variety of applications. Complementary to the build-up of devices on a micro- and nanometer scale by use of suited process technologies (top-down) is the use of nano-scale materials (bottom-up). With both approaches, a higher integration density combined with less spatial extension and a higher level of optical and electrical functionality can be realized reducing simultaneously the costs . Beside of the realization of miniaturized components, the use of low-cost process technologies also reduces manufacturing costs. For the realization of miniaturized components as well as for the use of low-cost process technologies, there is a demand for new materials which can be adapted to the processes and technologies in a wide range and/or which have functionalities decreasing the necessary processing steps. The material class of nano-scaled inorganic-organic hybrid polymers ...