Nano manipulation and assembly using AFM

Summary form only given. The main problem of nanomanipulation and nanoassembly using atomic force microscopy (AFM) is its lack of real-time visual feedback during manipulations. Fortunately, this problem has been overcome by our recently developed augmented reality system which includes a "videolized" AFM imaging system and a haptic feedback system. The "videolized" AFM means that the operator through movie like AFM images can monitor the changes of nano environment during the nanomanipulation in real time. The "videolized" AFM is achieved by locally updating the AFM image in real-time based on the interactive force information obtained in real-time by AFM during the manipulation. The augmented reality system can provide both "videolized" real-time visual feedback and real-time force feedback. An operator can feel the interactive forces and observe the real-time changes of the nano environment during the nano manipulations. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of an AFM cantilever directly affect the results of nano manipulations. The tip of a soft cantilever that is good for imaging can easily slip over a nano object. An active control of the AFM cantilever has been integrated in the augmented reality enhanced nano manipulation system. Via the piezo layer on the cantilever surface the AFM cantilever can be dynamically controlled in order to obtain proper mechanical properties for its operations. In this presentation, the theoretical foundation as well as the development of the augmented reality enhanced AFM would be discussed. The experimental results of utilizing the augmented reality enhanced AFM for the manipulation and assembly of nano particles, nano wires, and DNA molecules are also be presented