Interactive Micromanipulation of Picking and Placement of Nonconductive Microsphere in Scanning Electron Microscope

Abstract

In this paper, classified theoretical models, consisting of contact with and placement of microsphere and picking operations, are simplified and established to depict the interactive behaviors of external and internal forces in pushing manipulations, respectively. Sliding and/or rolling cases, resulting in the acceleration of micromanipulations, are discussed in detail. Effective contact detection is achieved by combining alterations of light-shadow and relative movement displacement between the tip-sphere. Picking operations are investigated by typical interactive positions and different end tilt angles. Placements are realized by adjusting the proper end tilt angles. These were separately conducted to explore the interactive operations of nonconductive glass microspheres in a scanning electron microscope. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed contact detection method can efficiently protect the end-tip from damage, regardless of operator skills in initial positioning operations. E-beam irradiation onto different interactive positions with end tilt angles can be utilized to pick up microspheres without bending the end-tip. In addition, the results of releasing deviations away from the pre-setting point were utilized to verify the effectiveness of the placement tilt angles.

Interactive Manipulation of Nonconductive Microparticles in Scanning Electron Microscope by a Virtual Nano-Hand Strategy

“…Since the microparticles do not need to be attached to the tip like previous publications [34], the e-beam irradiation time is limited and the microparticles are well protected. At the same time, the proposed two-probe strategy can better protect the substrate and microparticles by reducing the pressure between the microparticles and the substrate.…”

“…Decossas et al successfully used AFM tips to pick up silicon nanocrystals from a Si surface and move to the target location and release them by a series of pulses [33]. Cao et al used the pick-and-place strategy to manipulate microparticles by one nanomanipulator tip inside SEM [34]. E-beam irradiation was utilized to glue and pick up microparticles, and releasing was accomplished by adjusting the end tilt angle.…”

Mechanical Bottom-up Nano-Assembling and Nano-Manipulation Using Shape Memory Alloy Nano-Gripper

“…These technologies do not provide the possibility of 3D nanomanipulation with nano-objects, that is, they also work in a planar manner, which greatly limits their functionality. Pick up and place mechanical nano-assembling methods are implemented in AFM [24,25], SEM [27][28][29][30], TEM [31], FIB [24,25], confocal microscope [25] and other microscopes [32]. In some cases, SEM uses micro-grippers [27][28][29][30], the use of which is not technologically advanced due to their relatively large sizes both in relation to the captured objects and the surveillance camera.…”

“…Pick up and place mechanical nano-assembling methods are implemented in AFM [24,25], SEM [27][28][29][30], TEM [31], FIB [24,25], confocal microscope [25] and other microscopes [32]. In some cases, SEM uses micro-grippers [27][28][29][30], the use of which is not technologically advanced due to their relatively large sizes both in relation to the captured objects and the surveillance camera. Recently, the mechanical nano-assembly using optical [33][34][35][36][37][38] and magnetic [38,39] nano-captures have attracted attention.…”