Micro/Nano-Manipulation

Abstract

The characteristics of the Micro-Nano-manipulation are linked with the specificities of the behavior of the objects whose characteristic size is lower than one millimeter. These objects are usually defined by the terms micro-object, nano-object or micro-nano-objects considering objects respectively with a characteristic size between 1 millimeter and 1 micrometer, lower than 1 micrometer or both previous cases. The terms microworld, nanoworld or micro-nano-world are also used to define respectively the collection of micro-objects, nano-objects, or micro-nano-objects (see fig. 1). The definition of the characteristic size varies depending on the object's shape. For spheres, cubes or cuboids, all the dimensions have the same order of magnitude, the characteristic size can be defined respectively as the diameter, the square dimension or the average of the dimensions. For membranes in which the thickness is one or several order of magnitude below the other dimensions, two characteristic dimensions can be considered, the thickness and the average of the two other dimensions. Currently, the most used terminology is the term "nanomembranes" when the thickness size is below 1 micrometer. For wires, two characteristic sizes can also be considered, the wire length and its diameter. The most used characteristic size is the diameter. Indeed, a "nanowire" means a wire with a diameter lower than 1 micrometer.

Repulsive Force for Micro- and Nano-Non-Contact Manipulation

“…Non-contact micro-nanomanipulation or micro-sorting consists the manipulation or sorting of microparticles using forces generated via a long range physical field (magnetic field, electrostatic field, acoustic field). The behavior and the design of the devices are significantly modified by the well-known scale effects [1]. When the scale reduces, the physical effects' magnitude is drastically modified: when the lengths are divided by 10, the volume effects (e.g., weight mass) are divided by 10 3 , and the surface forces (e.g., van der Waals force) are divided only by 10 2 .…”