Automated Nanohandling by Microrobots (eBook)

This book provides an introduction to robot-based nanohandling. It presents work on the development of a versatile microrobot-based nanohandling robot station inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Those unfamiliar with the subject will find the text, which is complemented throughout by the extensive use of illustrations, clear and simple to understand. The author has published two books and numerous papers in the field, and holds more than 50 patents.

Prof. Dr. Sergej Fatikow is a full professor and Head of the Institute for Microrobotics and Control Engineering at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. His research interests include different aspects of micro- and nanorobotics, microactuators and microsensors, robot-based nanohandling automation, and neuro-fuzzy robot control.

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"e;What I want to talk about is the problem of manipulating and controlling things on a small scale"e; stated Richard P. Feynman at the beginning of his visionary talk "e;There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom"e;, given on December 29th 1959 at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology. Today, almost half a century after this first insight into unlimited opportunities on the nanoscale level, we still want - and have to - talk about the same issue. The problem identified by Feynmann turned out to be a very difficult one due to a lack of understanding of the underlying phenomena in the nanoworld and a lack of suitable nanohandling methods. This book addresses the second issue and tries to contribute to the tremendous effort of the research community in seeking proper solutions in this field. Automated robot-based nanomanipulation is one of the key challenges of microsystem technology and nanotechnolgy, which has recently been addressed by a rising number of R&D groups and companies all over the world. Controlled, reproducible assembly processes on 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 micro- and nanosystems.