2D micro particle assembly using atomic force microscope

A micro particle manipulation system using atomic force microscope (AFM) as the manipulator has been proposed. The size of the particles to be manipulated are approximately 1-2 μm. Optical microscope (OM) is utilized as the vision sensor, and AFM cantilever behaves also as a force sensor which enables contact point detection and surface alignment sensing. A 2D OM real-time image feedback constitutes the main user interface of the directly teleoperated operation system, where the operator uses mouse cursor and keyboard for defining the trajectories for the AFM controller. Particle manipulation experiments are realized for 2.02 μm gold-coated latex particles, and it is shown that the system can be utilized in 2-D micro particle assembling