Taking classes in physics always starts with Newtonian mechanics. In reducing the size of the objects considered however the transition into the quantum mechanical regime has to occur. The 'mechanics' of quantum mechanics is best studied in nano-structured semiconductor systems often termed nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). I will review recent results on combining single electron devices with NEMS, which are useful as detectors and for limited displacement detection. If time permits, I will branch out into combining NEMS with biological transistors, such as ion channels in cell membranes.

Robert Blick received his PhD from the Max-Plank Institute for Solid State Physics in Germany in 1996. His PhD thesis title was `Artificial Atoms and molecules: "Single Electron Transistors ". He graduated with distinction. Dr. Blick joined the California Institute of Technology as a research fellow in 1996, where he worked on Nanomechanical resonators. In 1997, he became Assistant Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians University. In January 2003, he joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Associate Professor. In 2002, Dr. Blick co-founded Nanion Technologies, a company building tools for screening single ion channels. In this research, he is concentrating on three areas: Nanoelectronics, Nanomechanics and Ion Channels.

• The Birk Nanotechnology Center
• The Bindley Bioscience Center
• The NASA Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing
• The Network for Computational Nanotechnology

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Robert H. Blick (2004), "Single Electron Switching with Nano-Electromechanical Systems and Applications in Ion Channel Transport," https://nanohub.org/resources/173.

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1. Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS)
2. NEMS/MEMS
3. quantum dots
4. research seminar