Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Microtechnology is technology with features near one micrometre (one millionth of a metre, or 10-6 metre, or 1μm). Microtechnology is usually constructed using photolithography. Lightwaves are focused through a mask onto a surface. They solidify a chemical film. The soft, unexposed parts of the film are washed away. Then acid etches away the material not protected. Microtechnology's most famous success is the integrated circuit. It has also been used to construct micromachinery. The following items have been constructed on a scale of 1 micrometre using photolithography: Electronics: wires resistors transistors thermionic valves diodes capacitors machinery: electric motors gears levers bearingss hinges fluidic valves Channels pumps turbines This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.