The research and development activities of IMB-CNM are dedicated to the field of Micro and Nano Integrated Systems. In parallel with the miniaturization of microelectronics, its technological base (processes and methods) has been increasingly applied to other areas: mechanical, optical, fluidic and chemical-biological. This trend started historically in the 1980s with the development of miniaturized sensors, with the driving force of obtaining improved performance, smaller size and lower cost, and continued later with microactuators and the integration of sensors and actuators with electronic circuits. This led to the concept of integrated (but not necessarily monolithic) systems, or microsystems.

A microsystem (or MEMS - Micro Electro Mechanical System, or MicroTAS-Micro Total Analysis System) is an integrated miniaturized electronic system which may include sensors, actuators, signal processing circuits and other structures, together with power supply/management, interfaces, packaging and ancillary elements. During the last decade, the addition of nanostructures/nanomaterials to improve the device/system performances has led to the concept of micro/nanosystems or MEMS/NEMS.

             

From an organizational point of view, the research is structured into two Departments:

• Department of Micro and Nano Systems  (Director: Prof. Manuel Lozano)
• Department of Systems Integration (Director: Prof. Philippe Godignon)

The research and development activities are structured in six research lines: