“Making MEMS and NEMS”

Penn Micro and Nano Systems

Micromechanical Signal Processors

Under the direction of Prof. Piazza the Penn Micro and Nano Systems (PMaNS) Laboratory is conducting cutting-edge research on micro and nanoelectromechanical (MEMS/NEMS) piezoelectric devices for RF signal processing, chemical/biological detection, acoustic sensing and all mechanical computing.

The research group has expertise in different areas of MEMS/NEMS ranging from electrical, mechanical and material engineering. We have access to state-of-the-art nanofabrication and nanocharacterization facilities for manufacturing and testing of new classes of MEMS/NEMS transducers. 

We have fun tackling fundamental science and engineering problems at the micro and nanoscale that can provide orders of magnitude performance improvement over current technologies.  For example, we are currently working on the development of switched AlN filter banks for reconfigurable RF front-ends to be employed in future spectrum-aware cognitive radios,  nanoresonant sensing systems that can tag individual molecules and cells and nanomechanical transistors for low power mechanical computing in harsh environments.

Nanomechanical Sensors

Nanomechanical Logic