Leti accelerated its NEMS program in 2007 by joining with the California Institute of Technology to form the Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI (very-large-scale integration). Last year, the alliance attracted five additional industrial partners – including Areva, Biomérieux, Leco and Total – as additional program sponsors.

Alliance researchers are focusing initially on developing nano-scale sensors that can detect very small traces of gas and liquid. Also under development are ultra-sensitive NEMS mass spectrometers that can detect and identify chemicals from samples as small as a single molecule.

Potential medical benefits

NEMS sensors could potentially help to detect chemical-warfare agents and other hazardous substances, and even provide doctors with new, non-invasive medical diagnosis tools. Researchers envision future sensors, for example, that could alert doctors to the early stages of lung cancer by detecting chemical markers associated with the disease on a patient’s breath.

LETI’s unique combination of design, process flow, material handling and manufacturing expertise, plus its state-of-the-art production and testing facilities, have made it a world leader in producing NEMS at a VLSI level.

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