3-D Nanorobotic Manipulation of Nanometer-scale Objects

Abstract

A set of nanorobotic manipulators with 4-DOF is constructed for 3-D nanomanipulation of nanometer-scale objects, which can work both under optical microscopes (OM) in air and inside the vacuum chamber of scanning electronic microscopes (SEM). Manipulators are actuated with PicomotorsTM (New Focus Inc.) with better than 30nm linear resolution (X, Y, Z stages actuated by Picomotors) and 2mrad rotary one. 2 atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers serve as the end-effectors, with 1 vertically installed (the axis of the cantilever tip is vertical to the light axis of OM or electronic beam of SEM) to facilitate the observation of operation. Manipulation is made by controlling dielectrophoretic force between the cantilever and objects, and by modifying the van der Waals force between the sample substrate and objects. Pick-and-placement of a ø1µm polystyrene bead shows the effectiveness of direlectrophoresis. To show manipulation accuracy, several letters are ""written"" with polystyrene ø3µm and ø1µm beads. Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are manipulated in 3-D space including picking up and placing single ones. Force measurements are made to get information to facilitate manipulation.