A Call to Arms . . . and Defense
Peter Singer, Editor-in-Chief -- Semiconductor International, 12/1/2001
Semiconductors are playing an increasingly important role in warfare. Advanced guidance systems allow bombs to be delivered with pinpoint precision from great distances; tracking systems allow rapid-fire cannons in slow-flying airplanes to remain focused on enemy positions; and sophisticated computer and display technologies allow a soldier to effectively fight as an "army of one," even at night.
These capabilities did not evolve overnight, and hats off to those scientists and engineers who have devoted their careers to developing such systems for the military and the defense industry. And to those who are now in the field putting them to use, may they help your aim be true.
As formidable as modern weapons are, however, they are only part of the solution in the war against terrorism. What's now needed are better ways to protect ourselves from threats in airports and in the mail, and wherever else an open society may be vulnerable. Fortunately, electronics technology can play a role here as well.
Highly accurate luggage-scanning systems are already available; they're just prohibitively expensive. But I'm sure with a little effort at electronics integration, combined with the "economies of scale" of volume production, the price on these can be brought down significantly.
The more unsettling threat is bioterrorism, where spores of lethal material have been sent through the mail. This may seem difficult to defend against, but new advances in semiconductor biochip technology may hold the answer. Consider, for example, the "smart bandage" that was recently developed at the University of Rochester in New York (see " 'Smart Bandage' Detects Bacteria With Silicon Sensor"). By using a sand-grain-sized silicon sensor, the smart bandage can detect the presence of certain types of bacteria in a wound. The team plans to expand the research to include a range of bacteria, including salmonella, listeria and enteropathogenic E. coli, and perhaps as an early warning in the case of biowarfare.
That's not the only work underway to use silicon technology in biomedical applications. Furthest along are efforts aimed at building "labs on a chip," designed to replace the labor-intensive assays now used to type proteins, such as DNA. Greek researchers at the NCRS Demokritos, for example, have built monolithic silicon optoelectronic biochips than can read certain types of proteins. This will be presented at this month's International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM).
Also at IEDM, Peter Fromherz of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, will describe interfacing between semiconductors and living cells that "may lead to sensor chips for pharmacological screening, to actuator chips for modulating molecular signals and cellular growth, to neuroelectronic devices for neurocomputation and neuroprosthetics."
There's also work well underway on low-cost MEMS sensors that can detect a variety of gases and chemicals. Again at IEDM, a MEMS-based device will be presented that can be programmed to detect "any chemical or combination of chemicals" without the use of traditional spectrometers.
Imagine the widespread availability of low-cost biochips that could quickly and accurately detect hazardous materials — such as anthrax bacteria. They could be mounted in mailboxes and designed to trigger an alarm if such a material were detected, or maybe they could be worn on the lapel. Maybe they could even be designed into a special stamp. Low-cost MEMS gas and chemical detectors could also be made widely available and positioned in public areas.
This kind of technology is still very much in its infancy, but the semiconductor industry has proved that it can move technologies from research to volume production quickly. It's time for the semiconductor industry to do that in the fight against terrorism. Form a task force, create a roadmap, start a new "counterbioterrorism center" . . . whatever it takes to get the job done.
