MEMS technology now yields a multitude of devices that have found their way into mainstream commercial products and advanced technological applications alike (for example in Apple's iPhone and Sony's Playstation, and in medical robotics and energy harvesting). M-E-M-S is an acronym for micro-electro-mechanical systems; techniques originating in the micro-electronics industry are used to fabricate devices in materials such as silicon. It was recognised early on that the technology lends itself well to the production of microphones and the potential for miniaturisation led hearing aid manufacturers to pioneer the development of MEMS microphones. However opportunities to supply microphones for consumer products, especially mobile telephones, saw manufacturers turn their attention to these high volume markets. Consequently, and amidst a strongly competitive environment, MEMS microphones developed rapidly, leading to a selection of commercially available microphone products on the market today. MEMS microphone have two significant features; they are very low cost, and they have a very small form factor. The technology is also in its early stages of development, so further improvements in performance and miniaturisation are to be expected in the course of time. Amidst these developments, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) saw a role for such devices in measurement, an area that no manufacturer of MEMS microphones appeared to be considering.
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