MEMS Rotary Microgripper With Integrated Electrothermal Force Sensor

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) rotary microgripper incorporating electrothermal force sensors is reported. The device is fabricated using a standard SOI-MEMS process and achieves a stroke of (90 μm) m) at a relatively low voltage (<;80 V). The electrothermal force sensor has a small footprint, is quite linear, and operates with a high accuracy. Being fabricated from biocompatible material (silicon) with sufficiently long gripping arms, the gripper can be used to manipulate living cells, tissues, and other biologically relevant samples. A pick-and-place experiment on a soft cell is conducted to verify performance of the proposed rotary microgripper.