I'd say the trend is going the other way: that the [
silicon lithography] technology that has developed around the integrated
circuit is now being adopted in several other areas, like microelectromechanical systems, microfluidic devices, chemical labs
on a
chip, and more.
Top - down approaches,
on the other hand, start with a much larger chunk of material and sculpt it into
silicon chips,
circuit boards and other microelectronic components with nanoscale features, by cutting or etching it.