Title :
Protruding microgripper with force amplification and parallel jaw motion for in-situ sample manipulation in SEM and FIB-machines
Author :
Krijnen, G. ; Haanstra, R. ; Potters, E. ; Berenschot, J.W. ; von Harrach, S. ; Elwenspoek, M.
Author_Institution :
MESA Res. Inst., Twente Univ., Enschede, Netherlands
Abstract :
We report on, to our best knowledge the first, protruding electrostatic microgripper with force amplification and parallel jaw motion for in-situ manipulation of sub-micrometer thick membranes in combined Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) / Focussed Ion Beam (FIB) machines. The gripper is used "upside-down" such that the highly doped silicon substrate shields the electrical fields resulting from the electrostatic actuation. Mechanical amplification is used to attain 3 /spl mu/m jaw-displacement with up to 195 /spl mu/N force from a comb-drive actuator array consisting of 1320 finger-pairs. Gripper movement was tested ex-and in-situ. The gripper-jaws moved several microns in both cases. FIB images shifted slightly at 40 V actuation voltage but were undistorted showing the effectiveness of shielding.
Keywords :
electrostatic devices; focused ion beam technology; grippers; membranes; micromanipulators; micromechanical devices; scanning electron microscopy; 40 V; FIB-machines; SEM; Si; electrical fields; electrostatic actuation; electrostatic microgripper; focussed ion beam machines; force amplification; mechanical amplification; parallel jaw motion; scanning electron microscopy; silicon substrate; submicrometer thick membranes; Biomembranes; Electron beams; Electrostatic actuators; Focusing; Grippers; Ion beams; Scanning electron microscopy; Silicon; Testing; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
TRANSDUCERS, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 12th International Conference on, 2003
Conference_Location :
Boston, MA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7731-1
DOI :
10.1109/SENSOR.2003.1215304
