Scientists have created a flying microchip, making it the smallest flying device in the world.

The flying microchip is not much bigger than a grain of sand. Of course, it does not have a motor. Instead, the microchip lets itself be carried by the wind, just like seeds from, say, maple trees (see them below). When you drop the microchip from a height, it will fall while spinning. And scientists have developed the flying microchip so that it descends at a slow speed.

Objective

The latter is important, because researchers can ensure that the microchip stays in the air for quite a long time. And that comes in handy if you want to use the microchip to monitor air quality, for example.

Because the flying microchips are not toys; researchers have very serious intentions with it. Although the chips are tiny, they can easily be fitted with very small sensors and a memory for data storage. Or even an antenna for wireless communication. “Our goal was to give wings to small-scale electronic systems,” said researcher John Rogers. “With the idea that that would allow us to distribute highly functional, tiny electronic devices.” In addition to air pollution, these devices can also monitor air-borne diseases, for example.

Image: Northwestern University.

Nature

To give the microchips wings, scientists were inspired by nature. “Over billions of years, nature has developed seeds with very advanced aerodynamics. We borrowed those designs, adapted them and then applied them to electronic devices.”

The researchers looked very specifically at seeds from plants from the Tristellateia-sex. These plants have star-shaped seeds that – like the helicopter seeds of the maple – descend while spinning. “These biological structures are designed to fall very slowly and in a controlled manner, so that they interact with the wind for as long as possible.” After all, that’s how the seeds kick the furthest.

Better than nature

The researchers made a computer model of the seeds of Tristellateia to get a clear picture of how they fly. On that basis, wings for the microchip were subsequently designed that, according to Rogers, are actually even better than the wings that Tristellateia gives to her seeds. “We think we have beaten nature. At least in the sense that we have been able to create structures that fall much more slowly than the seeds of plants or trees and also remain much more stable.”

Aeroplane

In the future, the microchips may be thrown out of airplanes in large numbers to monitor air quality over a large area and at different altitudes. “Most technologies developed for monitoring consist of large instruments with which data can only be collected at a small number of locations. We envision a large number of tiny sensors that can be widely distributed in large areas.”

Of course, all those microchips will eventually return to Earth. And that creates a lot of mess and pollution. At least you would think so. Rogers and colleagues have come up with something for that. The research team previously developed electronics that are water-soluble. The same materials and techniques are now being used to make tiny kites that simply disappear when exposed to water, without further harming the environment.