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  Working
material in several dimensions in an electron microscope becomes
possible
The Nanomanipulator from Klocke Nanotechnik
extends the electron microscope from an analytical instrument to
a material processing system. Through the compact construction of
the manipulator a vacuum compatible tool can be inserted into the
small space between electron source and sample. No larger than a
film cartridge, even several manipulators fit into the vacuum chamber.
The manipulator can be moved half a cubic centimeter with a resolution
of a millionth of a millimeter. The manipulator may contain various
micro tools for cutting, scraping, gripping, spark erosion and for
laser ablation.
(This Article was the first choice for the brochure
“The Best of TPI, (Technical Press Information) Product News
of the HANNOVER FAIR 1999”.)
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The Nanomanipulator described in the upper article
was sold as OEM-Product by 
LEO Elektronenmikroskopie already in 1998.
This Nanomanipulator was our first manipulator, several years before
in-SEM manipulation came popular. From our customers we learned that such
tilting manipulators are quite difficult to handle: the directions of
movement are always mixed. Therefore we developed Cartesian systems with
position sensors for automation, see: Nanorobotics
Manipulators for the principle and in particular: in-SEM/FIB
Nanorobotics Manipulators.
The pictures 1 - 6 show animations of different actions made with these
tools. The pictures were made by a customer, IPF Dresden, Dr. H.-G.Braun http://www.ipfdd.de:
Needle or Cannula:
In Fig. 1 a 5 micron small ink bubble on carbon copy paper is touched
with the needle, pierced and then destroyed. The ink is not visible because
it evaporates in vacuum immediately. This activity is made on a medium
coarse scale. The Nanomanipulator has a resolution of about 1 nm without
backlash. Equipped with a patch clamp cannula this manipulator is about
100 times smaller in volume and about 1000 times more precise than conventional
manipulators.
Axe or crowbar to chip material:
The short scene in Fig. 2 shows how the tip scratches into wood and lifts
a piece out of it. It is an example similar to problems common in pharmaceutical
development: detaching small pieces of frozen human skin. Force is not
a problem, the same manipulator is able to make tip imprints into diamonds.
Another question was, if 300 nm small palladium spheres coated onto a
thick copper film were rigidly joined with the copper film. It was possible
to push against the palladium spheres with the tip of the Nanomanipulator.
The palladium spheres could only be lifted up together with the thick
copper film. This quick and easy experiment proved that the palladium
spheres are more tightly bound with the copper film than the copper film
with the substrate. The customer could not find this answer by any other
technology.
The Hook (Fig.3 & 4):
More complex is the movement of a hook to move behind something, grab
it and pull it away - or just destroy it as in this example.
A Knife (Fig. 5):
Cutting material is another important manipulation. This movie shows the
flexibility of that tool.
A Cleaner (Fig. 6):
You can take away dust from a chip...
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