Development of multi-needle-type capillary; high DOF micromanipulator using surface tension

In recent years, electrical equipments, including their components, have seen a downsizing. Thus there is a growing need for micromanipulators for microscopic objects. Direct holding type micromanipulators have become popular. However, manipulating microscopic objects with direct holding type micromanipulators, there is a danger of damaging the objects. Manipulation using surface-tension involves holding the object by a droplet created on the tip of capillary. There is no direct contact between the capillary and the object. However, this way of manipulation does not support multiple degrees of freedom. Multi-needle type capillary is composed of several thin needles which are arranged cylindrically. These needles are used as hypothetical capillary. Such a multi-needle capillary can hold microscopic objects with the surface tension of droplet on the capillary tip. The multi-needle capillary tip can be reconfigured by a linear movement of each needle. Accordingly, the droplet on the capillary-tip is also reshaped, so that a microscopic object in contact with the capillary-tip droplet can be manipulated. In this paper, design and fabrication of multi-needle-type capillary is described.