A platform technology for metrology, manipulation and automation at the nanoscale

We present a platform technology for nanometer-scale metrology, manipulation, automation and robotics that consists of ultra-precise actuators, sensors, and electronics on a single CMOS chip. A conventional CMOS process is adopted to manufacture MEMS devices that can position payloads with sub-nanometer resolution and dynamically detect forces in the piconewton range. One example of an aggressively scaled device that has been designed, fabricated, characterized and commercialized in the present platform is a single-chip atomic force microscope (sc-AFM) that achieves atomic lattice resolution in the vertical direction. The modeling and design of sc-AFMs to optimize their distortion-free scan range, speed of operation, and robustness to ambient fluctuations are presented as example applications of the CMOS-MEMS technology platform.