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4.2 Research policy in USA
The USA is surely the leading country for microtechnologies in many application fields due to the vast efforts realised in the development of IC since the late sixties, and the impulse given to the evolution of the silicon microfabrication technologies. This allowed American companies, especially in California (Silicon Valley) a relatively quick access to such sophisticated processing technologies that are essential for the development of microsystems. Over the last 20 years, the USA emphasised MEMS, and many start-up companies were promoted; thanks to the positive conditions to produce low volume-price rates.
Public support policies started slowly in MEMS field were principally pushed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with less than $1million per year. However, the Defence Department is currently the biggest investor with funds exceeding $50 millions per year.
