Credit: Eric Hanson

A typical microprocessor integrates a large number (greater than a hundred million) of small (less than 100 nanometers) electronic parts, but the miniaturized systems of the future will also need to incorporate photonic, mechanical, chemical, and even biological devices. The semiconductor industry has had impressive success in producing integrated electronics, but it has been decidedly less successful at mass-manufacturing multifunctional microsystems, partly because the processes used to make different components are incompatible. A major question for engineers is what manu­facturing process can mass-­produce useful multi­functional, miniature systems. The conventional approach to making engineered products is unlikely to yield a satisfying answer.

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