The atomic force microscope (AFM) has proven to be a valuable instrument for the characterization and manipulation of biological objects. When using the AFM as a nanomanipulation tool, two principal problems arise. First, when manipulating with the AFM, the manipulation process has to be performed in a blind way. This can partially be solved by using virtual imaging and force feedback techniques. A second, more challenging problem is caused by tip contamination and the selection of the AFM tip. If the same probe is used for manipulation and imaging, tip contamination can result in decreased image quality. Furthermore, requirements on both tip shape and material may vary for manipulation and imaging. Addressing both problems, an automated microrobot station is proposed, utilizing nanomanipulation robots equipped with self-sensing AFM tips (piezoresistive cantilevers) working in cooperation with a conventional AFM. The system will not only benefit from a decoupling of imaging and manipulation, it will also allow simultaneous measurements (electrical, mechanical and thermal conduction) in different points of the sample. Due to spatial uncertainties arising from thermal drift, hysteresis and creep afflicted actuators, the development of a control system for the cooperation of microrobot and AFM is challenging. Current research efforts towards a nanohandling robot station combining both an AFM cantilever equipped microrobot and an AFM are presented.
Current research work on the development of automated microrobot-based nanohandling stations (AMNSs) using the probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) as an endeffector is presented. The manipulation of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the characterization of eukaryotic cells are aspired applications. For this reason, the developed AMNSs have to be integrated both into a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for the nanomanipulation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and into an optical microscope for the cell characterization. Such an AMNS combines different micro- and nanomanipulators, each offering three degrees of freedom (DoF), in order to perform the coarse and fine positioning between object and endeffector. Piezoresistive AFM probes are applied as an endeffector allowing to measure the acting forces and to realize a force feedback for the station's control system. First investigations have been carried out by bending of MWCNTs and calculating the Young's modulus of a MWCNT. Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) have been developed for the microelectronics industry, and their mechanical properties have to be determined. Therefore an AMNS for the mechanical characterization of thin ECA coatings by nanoindentation inside an SEM is presented as well, showing first experimental results.
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