Manuel Mikczinski

A novel flexure-based microgripper with double amplification mechanisms for micro/nano manipulation

This paper describes the design, modeling, and testing of a novel flexure-based microgripper for a large jaw displacement with high resolution. Such a microgripper is indispensable in micro∕nano manipulation. In achieving a large jaw displacement, double amplification mechanisms, namely, Scott-Russell mechanism and leverage mechanism arranged in series, are utilized to overcome the limited output of microgrippers driven by piezoelectric actuators. The mechanical performance of the microgripper is analyzed using the pseudo rigid body model approach. Finite element analysis is conducted to evaluate the performance and validate the established models for further optimum design of the microgripper. The prototype of the developed microgripper is fabricated, with which experimental tests are carried out. The experimental results show that the developed microgripper is capable of handling various sized micro-objects with a maximum jaw displacement of 134 μm and a high amplification ratio of 15.5.

A flexible microrobotic platform for handling microscale specimens of fibrous materials for microscopic studies

One of the most challenging issues faced in handling specimens for microscopy, is avoiding artefacts and structural changes in the samples caused by human errors. In addition, specimen handling is a laborious and time‐consuming task and requires skilful and experienced personnel. This paper introduces a flexible microrobotic platform for the handling of microscale specimens of fibrous materials for various microscopic studies such as scanning electron microscopy and nanotomography. The platform is capable of handling various fibres with diameters ranging from 10 to 1000 μm and lengths of 100 μm–15 mm, and mounting them on different types of specimen holders without damaging them. This tele‐operated microrobotic platform minimizes human interaction with the samples, which is one of the main sources contributory to introducing artefacts into the specimens. The platform also grants a higher throughput and an improved success rate of specimen handling, when compared to the manual processes. The operator does not need extensive experience of microscale manipulation and only a short training period is sufficient to operate the platform. The requirement of easy configurability for various samples and sample holders is typical in the research and development of materials in this field. Therefore, one of the main criteria for the design of the microrobotic platform was the ability to adapt the platform to different specimen handling methods required for microscopic studies. To demonstrate this, three experiments are carried out using the microrobotic platform. In the first experiment, individual paper fibres are mounted successfully on scanning electron microscopy specimen holders for the in situ scanning electron microscopy diagonal compression test of paper fibres. The performance of the microrobotic platform is compared with a skilled laboratory worker performing the same experiment. In the second experiment, a strand of human hair and an individual paper fibre bond are mounted on a specimen holder for nanotomography studies. In the third experiment, individual paper fibre bonds with controlled crossing and vertical angles are made using the microrobotic platform. If an industrial application requires less flexibility but a higher speed when handling one type of sample to a specific holder, then the platform can be automated in the future.

Nanorobotic Testing to Assess the Stiffness Properties of Nanopaper

This paper deals with the nanorobotic and nondestructive assessment of the stiffness properties of nanopaper made of microfibrillated cellulose. Back-calculations of the Youngs modulus show the agreement of the newly found results with conventional tensile testing results, therewith proving nanorobotics as a reasonable complement for conventional testing.

Automated handling of bio-nanowires for nanopackaging

The integration of biomaterials into micro/nano-sensors or micro/nano-systems is expected to improve the properties of such systems or even lead to the development of novel innovative systems. A key problem to be solved beforehand is the development and realization of proper preparation, handling and manipulation methods with respect to an industrial usage. To enable such a usage, the methods have to be automatable, robust to environmental changes as well as feasible in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). According to these points, the target of the presented efforts is to develop these methods for a future design of nanoelectronic parts and to solve packaging problems at the nanoscale. As a consequence, the paper presents a novel concept for the usage of biomaterials, such as DNA and wood fibers/fibrils, for the packaging at the nanoscale. Novel methods for the DNA-handling with an atomic force microscope (AFM) at dry conditions, which can also be used in the vacuum chamber of a SEM will be presented as well as wood fibers/fibrils manipulation methods in the SEM.

Approach for the 3D-Alignment in Micro- and Nano-scale Assembly Processes

Most assembly processes on the nano-scale take place in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for the reason of high magnification range of the microscope itself. Like all microscopes, the SEM delivers visual data just in two dimensions. This is a bottleneck for all assembly processes which require of course information of the parts to join in a third dimension. This paper shows an approach with a dedicated sensor. As an example for an assembly process a carbon nano tube (CNT) is fixed on a sharp metal tip. The sensor used detects contact between these two parts by exciting a bimorph cantilever made from piezoelectric material. It is shown that with this approach the contact is reliably detected. Recent experiments on introducing a new excitation structure show the possibility to add more dimensional testing in the same way as the one dimensional type.

Biomaterials as bonding wires for integrated circuit nanopackaging

Todays miniaturization of integrated circuits for MEMS and NEMS systems depends strongly on the limitations of integrated circuit packaging. The integration of biomaterials as nano bonding wires may result in an improvement of the properties of such systems up to the development of novel innovative systems. That implies that currently missing methods and techniques have to be developed to enable an industrial feasible handling, manipulating and characterizing of such biomaterials. So the main objectives have to be the development methods which are fully automatable, fast, reliable, robust to environmental changes as well as useable at a dry environment of clean room facilities or the vacuum environment of SEM chambers. According to this, the target of the presented efforts is to develop such methods for a usage of biomaterials to solve packaging problems at the nanoscale. This paper presents a novel concept and first experimental results of the handling of cellulose fibers as well as DNA wires, for an automatable handling and characterization of such bio nano bonding wires. Methods for the handling and characterization of cellulose fibers in the SEM will be presented as well as DNA-handling methods with an AFM at dry conditions, which can also be used in the vacuum chamber.

Towards automated robot-based nanohandling

One of the key challenges of microsystem- and nanotechnologies is the automation of robot-based nanomanipulation. However, there is limited sensor feedback due to lack of appropriate sensors. Sensor feedback is required for repeatable actuator movements from macro- down to the nanoscale. This complicates the design of reliable automation processes. In this paper, the development of an automated robot-based toolbox for cell injection and handling is presented. This toolbox includes several sensor methods, bridging several orders of magnitude as feedback for automation. A non-linear support vector machine (SVM) is applied for classification of the viability of cells as feedback for quality control. A visual servoing algorithm for position tracking of the injection needle as well as an injection force sensor have been developed. First automation results and the control system are explained.

Development of a Force Microsensor for Robot-based Nanohandling

Abstract The process of electron beam induced deposition was used to create sensor structures for strain measurements with outer dimensions of 20 μm by 30 μm. The sensor principle was derived from classic macroscopic strain gage sensors. Therefore, electrically conductive lines with a width of 200 nm were directly deposited on an SiO 2 coated silicon wafer by writing them with the electron beam of a scanning electron microscope and in the presence of an organometallic tungsten precursor. To determine the properties of the sensor structure, the electric noise was measured and compared to a constantan strain gage and a semiconductor strain gage. From this noise voltage, the best achievable mechanical resolution for every strain gage type is determined. The electric resistance of the sensor structure was measured at defined strain and compression to determine the gauge factor which is needed to calculate the value of arbitrary strain from measured resistances. Long time period measurements of the electrical resistance showed effects of a burning-in process, aging and wear of the sensor structure, which were analyzed in the last part of this work.