High-Precision Automated Micromanipulation and Adhesive Microbonding With Cantilevered Micropipette Probes in the Dynamic Probing Mode

In this paper, we present a method for conducting automated micromanipulation that uses a cantilevered micropipette probe (CMP), which is capable of high-sensitivity contact detection. A dynamic probing method is proposed to achieve highly precise and nondestructive micromanipulation with the slightly oscillating CMP (amplitude: ~5 nm, the first resonance mode). By measuring the frequency shift of the CMP in real time, this method not only can accurately control the contact force at the nanonewton level, but also can determine whether a mass as small as several picograms (10
^-12
g) is successfully picked up or released. A microrobotic system with the top- and side-view microscopes is developed for adhesive microbonding through two cooperating CMPs. The effectiveness of the method is verified by conducting three-dimensional (3-D) manipulation of microbeads of diameters varying from 3 to 20 μm, assembling 2-D and 3-D structures with a submicrometer accuracy, attaching a microbead to an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe for stiffness calibration, and fabricating a functional AFM probe by adhesively bonding a magnetic microbead to AFM cantilevers. The experimental results demonstrate the versatility and robustness of the developed method in the field of automated micromanipulation and adhesive microbonding.