The technological future of everything from cars and jet engines to oil rigs, as well as the gadgets, appliances and public utilities that comprise the internet of things, will depend on microscopic sensors.

The trouble is these sensors are mostly made of silicon, which has its limits. Now, a team of materials scientists led by Kevin Hemker at Johns Hopkins University has succeeded in developing a new material that promises to help ensure that these sensors, also known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), can continue to meet the demands of the next technological frontier.

Most MEMS devices have internal structures smaller than the width of a strand of human hair and shaped out of silicon. These devices work well in average temperatures, but even modest amounts of heat – a couple of hundred degrees – causes them to lose their strength and their ability to conduct electronic signals. Silicon is also very brittle and prone to breaking.

For these reasons, while silicon has been at the heart of MEMS technologies for several generations now, the material is not ideal. Especially under the high heat and physical stress that future MEMS devices will have to withstand if they are to be utilized in technologies such as the internet of things.

The pursuit of new materials led the researchers to investigate nickel-containing metal alloys, which are commonly used as advanced structural materials: nickel-based superalloys, for example, are used to make jet engines. .We Considering the need for dimensional stability, the researchers experimented with adding molybdenum and tungsten to nickel in hopes of curbing the degree to which pure nickel expands in heat.

NEXTECK group ( URL: www.nexteck.co.uk , email: nexteck@nexteck.co.uk, Tel: +44 -20 33185866 ) is expecting this technology will come true.