Microtechnology is technology whose features have dimensions of the order of one micrometre (one millionth of a metre, or 10 metre, or 1μm). It focuses on physical and chemical processes as well as the production or manipulation of structures with one-micrometre magnitude.
59-548: Around 1970, scientists learned that by arraying large numbers of microscopic transistors on a single chip, microelectronic circuits could be built that dramatically improved performance, functionality, and reliability, all while reducing cost and increasing volume. This development led to the Information Revolution . More recently, scientists have learned that not only electrical devices, but also mechanical devices, may be miniaturized and batch-fabricated, promising
118-537: A pitch accent . In Modern Greek, all vowels and consonants are short. Many vowels and diphthongs once pronounced distinctly are pronounced as /i/ ( iotacism ). Some of the stops and glides in diphthongs have become fricatives , and the pitch accent has changed to a stress accent . Many of the changes took place in the Koine Greek period. The writing system of Modern Greek, however, does not reflect all pronunciation changes. The examples below represent Attic Greek in
177-402: A transmission electron microscope . Microscope types are often distinguished by their mechanism and application, and can be divided into two general categories. Amongst light microscopes, the utilised objective lens dictates how small of an object can be seen. These varying objective lenses can change the resolving power of the microscope, which determines the shortest distance that somebody
236-430: A compelling solution. MEMS have already had a profound impact on certain applications such as automotive sensors and inkjet printers. The emerging MEMS industry is already a multibillion-dollar market. It is expected to grow rapidly and become one of the major industries of the 21st century. Cahners In-Stat Group has projected sales of MEMS to reach $ 12B by 2005. The European NEXUS group projects even larger revenues, using
295-589: A completely different design and process to produce an accelerometer for inertial navigation. Changing from an accelerometer to another inertial device such as a gyroscope requires an even greater change in design and process, and most likely a completely different fabrication facility and engineering team. MEMS technology has generated a tremendous amount of excitement, due to the vast range of important applications where MEMS can offer previously unattainable performance and reliability standards. In an age where everything must be smaller, faster, and cheaper, MEMS offers
354-472: A lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period. They have the same general outline but differ in some of the detail. The only attested dialect from this period is Mycenaean Greek , but its relationship to the historical dialects and
413-419: A lesser degree. Pamphylian Greek , spoken in a small area on the southwestern coast of Anatolia and little preserved in inscriptions, may be either a fifth major dialect group, or it is Mycenaean Greek overlaid by Doric, with a non-Greek native influence. Regarding the speech of the ancient Macedonians diverse theories have been put forward, but the epigraphic activity and the archaeological discoveries in
472-479: A location, down to cells found in their blood. When the monetary value of gems is determined, various professions in gemology require systematic observation of the microscopic physical and optical properties of gemstones. This can involve the use of stereo microscopes to evaluate these qualities, to eventually determine the value of each individual jewel or gemstone. This can be done similarly in evaluations of gold and other metals. When assessing road materials,
531-415: A microscopic level increased. Published in 1665, Robert Hooke 's book Micrographia details his microscopic observations including fossils insects, sponges, and plants, which was possible through his development of the compound microscope. During his studies of cork, he discovered plant cells and coined the term ' cell '. Prior to the use of the micro- prefix, other terms were originally incorporated into
590-529: A more inclusive definition of MEMS. Microtechnology is often 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 . As an offshoot of researchers attempting to further miniaturize microtechnology, nanotechnology emerged in
649-507: A much higher resolving power, and magnification approximately 10,000 times more than light microscopes. These can be used to view objects such as atoms , which are as small as 0.001 micrometres. During forensic investigations, trace evidence from crime scenes such as blood, fingerprints and fibres can be closely examined under microscopes, even to the extent of determining the age of a trace. Along with other specimens, biological traces can be used to accurately identify individuals present at
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#1733086158477708-543: A prefix /e-/, called the augment . This was probably originally a separate word, meaning something like "then", added because tenses in PIE had primarily aspectual meaning. The augment is added to the indicative of the aorist, imperfect, and pluperfect, but not to any of the other forms of the aorist (no other forms of the imperfect and pluperfect exist). The two kinds of augment in Greek are syllabic and quantitative. The syllabic augment
767-671: A separate historical stage, though its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek , and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek , and Koine may be classified as Ancient Greek in a wider sense. There were several regional dialects of Ancient Greek; Attic Greek developed into Koine. Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language , divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic , Aeolic , Arcadocypriot , and Doric , many of them with several subdivisions. Some dialects are found in standardized literary forms in literature , while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms. Homeric Greek
826-609: A standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance . This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period ( c. 300 BC ), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek , which is regarded as
885-697: A tiny laser-machined stent or watch component would not). In Europe, the term MST for Micro System Technology is preferred, and in Japan MEMS are simply referred to as "micromachines". The distinctions in these terms are relatively minor and are often used interchangeably. Though MEMS processes are generally classified into a number of categories – such as surface machining , bulk machining, LIGA , and EFAB – there are indeed thousands of different MEMS processes. Some produce fairly simple geometries, while others offer more complex 3-D geometries and more versatility. A company making accelerometers for airbags would need
944-510: A vowel or /n s r/ ; final stops were lost, as in γάλα "milk", compared with γάλακτος "of milk" (genitive). Ancient Greek of the classical period also differed in both the inventory and distribution of original PIE phonemes due to numerous sound changes, notably the following: The pronunciation of Ancient Greek was very different from that of Modern Greek . Ancient Greek had long and short vowels ; many diphthongs ; double and single consonants; voiced, voiceless, and aspirated stops ; and
1003-495: A wide range of products such as automobile airbags , ink-jet printers, blood pressure monitors , and projection display systems. It seems clear that in the not-too-distant future these devices will be as pervasive as electronics. The process has also become more precise, driving the dimensions of the technology down to sub-micrometer range as demonstrated in the case of advanced microelectric circuits that reached below 20 nm. The term MEMS , for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems,
1062-556: Is a literary form of Archaic Greek (derived primarily from Ionic and Aeolic) used in the epic poems , the Iliad and the Odyssey , and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic and other Classical-era dialects. The origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of
1121-404: Is a vital contributor to successful cell function and growth, even in cancer cells. The entropy and disorder of the universe can be observed at a microscopic scale, with reference to the second and third law of thermodynamics . In some cases, this can involve calculating the entropy change within a container of expanding gas molecules and relating it to the entropy change of its environment and
1180-408: Is able to distinguish two separate objects through that microscope lens. It is important to note that the resolution between two objects varies from individual to individual, but the strength of the objective lenses can be quantified. In the 1660s, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek devised a simple microscope utilising a single spherical lens mounted between two thin brass plates. Depending on the quality of
1239-418: Is added to stems beginning with consonants, and simply prefixes e (stems beginning with r , however, add er ). The quantitative augment is added to stems beginning with vowels, and involves lengthening the vowel: Some verbs augment irregularly; the most common variation is e → ei . The irregularity can be explained diachronically by the loss of s between vowels, or that of the letter w , which affected
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#17330861584771298-644: Is called 'East Greek'. Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian Greek had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, as exemplified in the poems of the Boeotian poet Pindar who wrote in Doric with a small Aeolic admixture. Thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to
1357-448: Is considered by some linguists to have been closely related to Greek . Among Indo-European branches with living descendants, Greek is often argued to have the closest genetic ties with Armenian (see also Graeco-Armenian ) and Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ). Ancient Greek differs from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and other Indo-European languages in certain ways. In phonotactics , ancient Greek words could end only in
1416-440: Is the micrometre (also called a micron ) (symbol: μm), which is one millionth of a metre . Whilst compound microscopes were first developed in the 1590s, the significance of the microscopic scale was only truly established in the 1600s when Marcello Malphigi and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek microscopically observed frog lungs and microorganisms. As microbiology was established, the significance of making scientific observations at
1475-416: Is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye , requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics , the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale between the macroscopic scale and the quantum scale . Microscopic units and measurements are used to classify and describe very small objects. One common microscopic length scale unit
1534-745: The Greek region of Macedonia during the last decades has brought to light documents, among which the first texts written in Macedonian , such as the Pella curse tablet , as Hatzopoulos and other scholars note. Based on the conclusions drawn by several studies and findings such as Pella curse tablet , Emilio Crespo and other scholars suggest that ancient Macedonian was a Northwest Doric dialect , which shares isoglosses with its neighboring Thessalian dialects spoken in northeastern Thessaly . Some have also suggested an Aeolic Greek classification. The Lesbian dialect
1593-501: The present , future , and imperfect are imperfective in aspect; the aorist , present perfect , pluperfect and future perfect are perfective in aspect. Most tenses display all four moods and three voices, although there is no future subjunctive or imperative. Also, there is no imperfect subjunctive, optative or imperative. The infinitives and participles correspond to the finite combinations of tense, aspect, and voice. The indicative of past tenses adds (conceptually, at least)
1652-447: The 1980s, particularly after the invention of new microscopy techniques. These produced materials and structures that have 1-100 nm in dimensions. The following items have been constructed on a scale of 1 micrometre using photolithography: Microscopic The microscopic scale (from Ancient Greek μικρός ( mikrós ) 'small' and σκοπέω ( skopéō ) 'to look (at); examine, inspect')
1711-1031: The 5th century BC. Ancient pronunciation cannot be reconstructed with certainty, but Greek from the period is well documented, and there is little disagreement among linguists as to the general nature of the sounds that the letters represent. /oː/ raised to [uː] , probably by the 4th century BC. Greek, like all of the older Indo-European languages , is highly inflected. It is highly archaic in its preservation of Proto-Indo-European forms. In ancient Greek, nouns (including proper nouns) have five cases ( nominative , genitive , dative , accusative , and vocative ), three genders ( masculine , feminine , and neuter ), and three numbers (singular, dual , and plural ). Verbs have four moods ( indicative , imperative , subjunctive , and optative ) and three voices (active, middle, and passive ), as well as three persons (first, second, and third) and various other forms. Verbs are conjugated through seven combinations of tenses and aspect (generally simply called "tenses"):
1770-490: The Archaic period of ancient Greek (see Homeric Greek for more details): Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκε, πολλὰς δ' ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι· Διὸς δ' ἐτελείετο βουλή· ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς. The beginning of Apology by Plato exemplifies Attic Greek from
1829-516: The International metric system in 1795, such as centi- which represented a factor of 10^-2, and milli- , which represented a factor of 10^-3. Over time the importance of measurements made at the microscopic scale grew, and an instrument named the Millionometre was developed by watch-making company owner Antoine LeCoultre in 1844. This instrument had the ability to precisely measure objects to
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1888-418: The ability to view sub-wavelength, nanosized objects. Nanoscale imaging via atomic force microscopy has also been improved to allow a more precise observation of small amounts of complex objects, such as cell membranes . Coherent microscopic patterns discovered in chemical systems support ideas of the resilience of certain substances against entropic environments. This research is being utilised to inform
1947-495: The amount of energy products made by mitochondria, the lifespan of its cell, and thus organism, increases. Microscopic analysis of the spatial distribution of points within DNA heterochromatin centromeres emphasise the role of the centromeric regions of chromosomes in nuclei undergoing the interphase part of cell mitosis . Such microscopic observations suggest nonrandom distribution and precise structure of centromeres during mitosis
2006-550: The aorist. Following Homer 's practice, the augment is sometimes not made in poetry , especially epic poetry. The augment sometimes substitutes for reduplication; see below. Almost all forms of the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect reduplicate the initial syllable of the verb stem. (A few irregular forms of perfect do not reduplicate, whereas a handful of irregular aorists reduplicate.) The three types of reduplication are: Irregular duplication can be understood diachronically. For example, lambanō (root lab ) has
2065-419: The augment when it was word-initial. In verbs with a preposition as a prefix, the augment is placed not at the start of the word, but between the preposition and the original verb. For example, προσ(-)βάλλω (I attack) goes to προσ έ βαλoν in the aorist. However compound verbs consisting of a prefix that is not a preposition retain the augment at the start of the word: αὐτο(-)μολῶ goes to ηὐ τομόλησα in
2124-438: The center of Greek scholarship, this division of people and language is quite similar to the results of modern archaeological-linguistic investigation. One standard formulation for the dialects is: West vs. non-West Greek is the strongest-marked and earliest division, with non-West in subsets of Ionic-Attic (or Attic-Ionic) and Aeolic vs. Arcadocypriot, or Aeolic and Arcado-Cypriot vs. Ionic-Attic. Often non-West
2183-611: The dialect of Sparta ), and Northern Peloponnesus Doric (including Corinthian ). All the groups were represented by colonies beyond Greece proper as well, and these colonies generally developed local characteristics, often under the influence of settlers or neighbors speaking different Greek dialects. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC, a new international dialect known as Koine or Common Greek developed, largely based on Attic Greek , but with influence from other dialects. This dialect slowly replaced most of
2242-477: The eye. Such groups include the Cladocera , planktonic green algae of which Volvox is readily observable, and the protozoa of which stentor can be easily seen without aid. The submicroscopic scale similarly includes objects that are too small to see with an optical microscope . In thermodynamics and statistical mechanics , the microscopic scale is the scale at which we do not measure or directly observe
2301-663: The forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek ( c. 1400–1200 BC ), Dark Ages ( c. 1200–800 BC ), the Archaic or Epic period ( c. 800–500 BC ), and the Classical period ( c. 500–300 BC ). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers . It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been
2360-556: The historical Dorians . The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, who regarded themselves as descendants of the population displaced by or contending with the Dorians. The Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people – Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians (including Athenians), each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Allowing for their oversight of Arcadian, an obscure mountain dialect, and Cypriot, far from
2419-472: The historical circumstances of the times imply that the overall groups already existed in some form. Scholars assume that major Ancient Greek period dialect groups developed not later than 1120 BC, at the time of the Dorian invasions —and that their first appearances as precise alphabetic writing began in the 8th century BC. The invasion would not be "Dorian" unless the invaders had some cultural relationship to
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2478-446: The lens, magnifications of between 70x and 250x were possible. The specimen to be examined was mounted on a point on a finely threaded rod. Compound light microscopes have a short focal length objective lens which produces a real image which is examined using a longer focal length eyepiece. The ratio of the focal length of the objective and the eyepiece, when mounted in a standard tube length, gives an approximate magnification of
2537-401: The microscopic composition of the infrastructure is vital in determining the longevity and safety of the road, and the different requirements of varying locations. As chemical properties such as water permeability, structural stability and heat resistance affect the performance of different materials used in pavement mixes, they are taken into consideration when building for roads according to
2596-575: The nearest micrometre. The British Association for the Advancement of Science committee incorporated the micro- prefix into the newly established CGS system in 1873. The micro- prefix was finally added to the official SI system in 1960, acknowledging measurements that were made at an even smaller level, denoting a factor of 10^-6. By convention, the microscopic scale also includes classes of objects that are most commonly too small to see but of which some members are large enough to be observed with
2655-499: The older dialects, although the Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language , which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek . By about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosed into Medieval Greek . Phrygian is an extinct Indo-European language of West and Central Anatolia , which
2714-487: The perfect stem eilēpha (not * lelēpha ) because it was originally slambanō , with perfect seslēpha , becoming eilēpha through compensatory lengthening. Reduplication is also visible in the present tense stems of certain verbs. These stems add a syllable consisting of the root's initial consonant followed by i . A nasal stop appears after the reduplication in some verbs. The earliest extant examples of ancient Greek writing ( c. 1450 BC ) are in
2773-414: The precise state of a thermodynamic system – such detailed states of a system are called microstates. We instead measure thermodynamic variables at a macroscopic scale , i.e. the macrostate . As the microscopic scale covers any object that cannot be seen by the naked eye, yet is visible under a microscope, the range of objects that fall under this scale can be as small as an atom, visible underneath
2832-605: The productions of solar fuels , and the improvement of renewable energy. A microscopic musical instrument called the Micronium has also been developed through micromechanics , consisting of springs the thickness of human hair being plucked by microscopic comb drives. This is a very minimal movement that produces an audible noise to the human ear, which was not previously done by past attempts with microscopic instruments. Ancient Greek language Ancient Greek ( Ἑλληνῐκή , Hellēnikḗ ; [hellɛːnikɛ́ː] ) includes
2891-399: The same benefits to the mechanical world as integrated circuit technology has given to the electrical world. While electronics now provide the ‘brains’ for today's advanced systems and products, micro-mechanical devices can provide the sensors and actuators — the eyes and ears, hands and feet — which interface to the outside world. Today, micromechanical devices are the key components in
2950-432: The severity of the disease, and early detection is possible through identification of microscopic indications of illness. Whilst use of the microscopic scale has many roles and purposes in the scientific field, there are many biochemical patterns observed microscopically that have contributed significantly to the understanding of how human life relies on microscopic structures to function and live. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
3009-559: The study of rock microstructures, to determine how geologic features such as tectonic plates affect the likelihood of earthquakes and groundwater movement. There have been both advances in microscopic technology, and discoveries in other areas of knowledge as a result of microscopic technology. In conjunction with fluorescent tagging, molecular details in singular amyloid proteins can be studied through new light microscopy techniques, and their relation to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Other improvements in light microscopy include
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#17330861584773068-497: The study of the Earth's structure at a microscopic level. Physical characteristics of rocks are recorded, and in petrography there is a specific focus on the examination of microscopic details of rocks. Similar to scanning electron microscopes, electron microprobes can be used in petrology to observe the condition that allows rocks to form, which can inform the origin of these samples. In structural geology , petrographic microscopes allow
3127-517: The syllabic script Linear B . Beginning in the 8th century BC, however, the Greek alphabet became standard, albeit with some variation among dialects. Early texts are written in boustrophedon style, but left-to-right became standard during the classic period. Modern editions of ancient Greek texts are usually written with accents and breathing marks , interword spacing , modern punctuation , and sometimes mixed case , but these were all introduced later. The beginning of Homer 's Iliad exemplifies
3186-477: The system. Due to their design, compound microscopes have improved resolving power and contrast in comparison to simple microscopes, and can be used to view the structure, shape and motility of a cell and its organisms, which can be as small as 0.1 micrometres. While electron microscopes are still a form of compound microscope, their use of electron beams to illuminate objects varies in mechanism significantly from compound light microscopes, allowing them to have
3245-422: The traffic, weather, supply and budget in that area. In medicine , diagnoses can be made with the assistance of microscopic observation of patient biopsies , such as cancer cells. Pathology and cytology reports include a microscopic description, which consists of analyses performed using microscopes, histochemical stains or flow cytometry . These methods can determine the structure of the diseased tissue and
3304-413: The universe. Ecologists monitor the state of an ecosystem over time by identifying microscopic features within the environment. This includes the temperature and CO 2 tolerance of microorganisms such as ciliates, and their interactions with othrt Protozoa. Additionally, microscopic factors such as movement and motility can be observed in water samples of that ecosystem. Branches of geology involve
3363-475: Was Aeolic. For example, fragments of the works of the poet Sappho from the island of Lesbos are in Aeolian. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, or to an island. Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric (including Cretan Doric ), Southern Peloponnesus Doric (including Laconian ,
3422-400: Was coined in the 1980s to describe new, sophisticated mechanical systems on a chip, such as micro electric motors, resonators, gears, and so on. Today, the term MEMS in practice is used to refer to any microscopic device with a mechanical function, which can be fabricated in a batch process (for example, an array of microscopic gears fabricated on a microchip would be considered a MEMS device but
3481-593: Was not only a contributor to the invention of the microscope, he is also referred to as the "father of Microbiology". This is due to his significant contributions in the initial observation and documentation of unicellular organisms such as bacteria and spermatozoa, and microscopic human tissue such as muscle fibres and capillaries. Genetic manipulation of energy-regulating mitochondria under microscopic principles has also been found to extend organism lifespan, tackling age-associated issues in humans such as Parkinson's , Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis . By increasing
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