Integrated MEMS/NEMS will rival, and perhaps surpass, the societal impact of integrated circuits. This potential is clearly demonstrated by hundreds of exciting applications published annually. To date, however, NEMS have not been designed to meet a performance target specified prior to fabrication, but instead have primarily been technological single-unit demonstrations. As a result, they are not mass manufacturable and reliable.

With support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and several industrial sponsors, iMINT conducts tightly integrated fundamental studies to establish a necessary knowledge base to facilitate the successful integration of nano-electromechancial systems (NEMS) and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) with repeatable, predictable, and reliable performance.

Flexible Thermal Ground Plane ― IMINT researchers are developing a new concept for cooling electronic devices that uses a flexible polymer as a thermal ground plane. The material, which will be fabricated using flexible circuit-compatible technologies, has an effective thermal conductivity that is 100 times higher than copper.

High Efficiency Light-Emitting Diode ― This study will demonstrate the feasibility of a novel GaN NW-based light-emitting diode with extremely high efficiency and low thermal resistance.