Nanohandling automation: Trends and current developments

Abstract

Automated robot-based nanomanipulation is one of the key challenges in 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 at 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 microsystems and nanosystems. Despite the growing interest in automated nanomanipulation, there is hardly any publication that treats this research in a coherent and comprehensive way. This paper is an attempt to provide the researcher with an overview of the most important trends and developments in this rapidly expanding technology. It also informs the practising engineer and the engineering student about automation at the nanoscale level as well as about the promising fields of application. The latter can be of a very different nature as nanohandling is strongly interdisciplinary in character. This paper offers a deeper insight into nanohandling aspects of carbon nanotubes.

Recent advances in nanorobotic manipulation inside scanning electron microscopes

“…During the past decade, efforts have been made in automated nanomanipulation (for example, pick-and-place of CNTs 44 and nanowires for mechanical characterization 98 , nanowire field-effect transistor assembly 32 ), nanoprobing for electrical characterization of nanowires and transistors 26,30 , and SEM-guided AFM manipulation for the transfer and stiffness measurement of graphene membranes 28,45 . Automated nanoprobing has demonstrated higher consistency and at least three times faster operation than manual operation 26 , in addition to minimizing the risks of nanotools and sample breakage 30 .…”

“…State-of-the-art SEM-based nanomanipulation systems are also integrated with AFMs and focused ion beam (FIB) systems, as well as various tools 38 and exchangeable toolboxes 39 . With these advances, powerful nano-laboratories have been established that are capable of simultaneous imaging, fabrication, and nanomanipulation [40][41][42][43] with high efficiency and reproducibility via the use of emerging automation techniques 30,[44][45][46] .…”

Toward intuitive teleoperation of micro/nano-manipulators with piezoelectric stick-slip actuators

“…State-of-the-art micro/nano-manipulators currently enable: manipulation and isolation of individual nanomaterials and nanostructures for imaging and analysis, 3D construction and characterization of MEMS/NEMS, failure analysis in semiconductor fabrication, and surgery on individual cells [1], [2], [3]. The development and use of commercial manipulators like the Kleindiek MM3A [4], the Zyvex Nanomanipulator [5], Imina Technologies miBot [6], and the Attocube Nanopositioners [7] has increased with the demand for precise standardized tools for micro/nano-manipulation.…”

“…Closed-loop control of micro/nano-manipulators using sensory data in real-time is challenging due to difficulty in getting real-time nanoscale visual and force feedback [3]. A number of different feedback control schemes such as voltage/frequency control [9], hybrid control [10], and sliding mode control [11] have been implemented for stick-slip actuators.…”

Novel four-point-probe design and nanorobotic dual endeffector strategy for electrical characterization of as-grown SWCNT bundles

“…The most suitable method for reliable characterization of CNTs and prototyping of CNT-based devices is the nanorobotic approach [10], [11], [12]. The development of a nanorobotic system that has been used to perform mechanical characterization of individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has already been presented in [13].…”