In the late 1970's and early 1980's physicists discovered that quantum coherence and the Coulomb interaction between electrons played an important role on small length scales in metals and semiconductors. Striking phenomena like persistent currents, universal conductance fluctuations and Coulomb blockade of electron tunneling were discovered and the field of mesoscopic physics was born.

At about the same time engineers and other scientists used the interaction between mechanical and electrical degrees of freedom to develop MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical Systems) into a mature technology with applications like the accelerometers used in the airbags of our cars. Today MEMS are becoming NEMS and perhaps soon QEMS as "Micro" becomes "Nano" and "Quantum" as the nanoelectromechanical devices become ever smaller. In this talk I will introduce the subject and then review some of the work done in Gothenburg on NEMS structures where mesocopic effects are important (see, e.g., the recent review [1]).


1. Shekhter et al.: Low Temp. Phys. 35, 841-861 (2009).