Marco Jähnisch

Microrobot System for Automatic Nanohandling Inside a Scanning Electron Microscope

In this paper, current research work on the development of an automated nano handling station in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is presented. An experimental setup is described, in which two mobile microrobots cooperate in the vacuum chamber of an SEM. The robots are positioned by a closed-loop controller with sensor data, which is provided by three charge-coupled device cameras and the SEM. Continuous pose estimation is carried out by processing noisy SEM images in real time. To enable the automation of complex tasks, a client-server control system that can integrate various microrobots and sensors is introduced. Finally, the overall system is evaluated by automatic handling of transmission electron microscope lamellae.

3-D Vision Feedback for Nanohandling Monitoring in a Scanning Electron Microscope

In this article, a new 3-D imaging system for 3-D vision feedback for nanohandling in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is presented. The stereo images are generated by beam tilting followed by the processing of the image data. Additionally, the 3-D module consisting of a vergence and a stereo system is described in more detail. The proposed stereo algorithm is biologically motivated and utilizes a new coherence detection analysis algorithm. The 3-D imaging system provides a sharp and high density disparity map, and 3-D plots in sub-pixel accuracy. The system is therefore suitable for micro- and nanohandling in SEMs.

Microrobot system for automatic nanohandling inside a scanning electron microscope

In this paper, current research work on the development of an automated nano handling station in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is presented. An experimental setup is described, in which two mobile microrobots cooperate in the vacuum chamber of an SEM. The robots are positioned by a closed-loop controller with sensor data, which is provided by three charge-coupled device cameras and the SEM. Continuous pose estimation is carried out by processing noisy SEM images in real time. To enable the automation of complex tasks, a client-server control system that can integrate various microrobots and sensors is introduced. Finally, the overall system is evaluated by automatic handling of transmission electron microscope lamellae.

Vision feedback in an automatic nanohandling station inside an SEM

In this paper, two image processing approaches are presented, which are used to gain vision feedback for automatic nanohandling inside a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The first one is a vision-based force measurement that makes use of an active contours tracking algorithm for real-time tracking of the bending line of micro- and nanoobjects. With this algorithm, it is possible to calculate applied forces in real-time with respect to the image acquisition time. This approach is validated using a piezo-resistive force sensor. In a second experiment the force applied to a Si nanowire (d ≈ 470 nm) is measured. The second visual measurement approach deals with the calculations of depth information inside an SEM by means of stereoscopic images. Therefore, a new 3D-imaging system that uses a stereo algorithm based on a biologically motivated energy model is proposed. The system provides a sharp and high density disparity map in sub-pixel accuracy and a 3D-plot for the user.

Automatic nanohandling station inside a scanning electron microscope

Current research work on the development of automated nanohandling systems in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is presented. Two experimental set-ups are shown in which nanohandling robots operate in the vacuum chamber of an SEM. A client—server control system that can integrate various microrobots and sensors has been developed and evaluated by automatic handling of TEM (transmission electron microscope) lamellae by two nanorobots. The robots are controlled in a closed-loop way by using images from several CCD (charge coupled device) cameras and from the SEM. Algorithms for real-time processing of noisy SEM images have been implemented and tested. The experiment on automatic handling of TEM lamellae inside an SEM is described. The other set-up contains a nanohandling robot using the probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) as end-effector. The manipulation of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and the characterization of nanofilms by nanoindentation are the applications being investigated. The experimental set-up includes a nanopositioning piezo stage with three degrees of freedom (DoF) and a three-axis nanomanipulator. Piezoresistive AFM probes are applied as end-effectors. In this way the acting forces can be detected, allowing force feedback for the stations control system. First investigations have been carried out by bending MWNTs and calculating their elastic modulus.

Nanohandling automation within a scanning electron microscope

In this paper, current research regarding a semi-automated handling station for TEM-lamella is described. The development of this station started with automated handling of microparts as described in many previous publications. However, within this project, we were able to apply current research to an economically important task for the semiconductor industry - TEM-lamella handling. This task consists of automatic tracking of the lamella, picking it up from the silicon wafer and placing it on a TEM-grid.

Nanohandling automation as an emerging industrial technology

Automated robot-based nanomanipulation is one of the key challenges of microsystem technology and nanotechnology, which has recently been addressed by a rising number of R&D groups and companies all over the world. Controlled, reproducible assembly processes on the nanoscale will enable high-throughput manufacturing of revolutionary products and open up new application fields. The ultimate goal of these research activities is the development of automated nanomanipulation processes to build a bridge between existing precise handling strategies for micro- and nanoscale objects and aspired high-throughput fabrication of micro- and nanosystems. Despite the growing interest in automated nanomanipulation, there is hardly any work that treats this research in a coherent and comprehensive way. This paper is an attempt to provide an overview over some important issues in this rapidly expanding technology.

DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF A VERSATILE NANOHANDLING ROBOT CELL

Abstract Current research work on the development of a nanohandling cell in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is presented. An experimental setup is shown, in which two microrobots cooperate in the vacuum chamber of an SEM. One microrobot is used as manipulator and a second one is used as sample holder. The task to be carried out is gripping of carbon nanotubes (CNT). In order to enable automatic gripping an automation strategy is introduced. One key challenge for a successful automation is the continuous pose estimation of the gripper and the CNT. Therefore, algorithms for real-time processing of noisy SEM images have been implemented and tested.