Robotics: Science and Systems I

Micro and Nanorobotic Assembly Using Dielectrophoresis

Arunkumar Subramanian, Barmeshwar Vikramaditya, Lixin Dong, Dominik Bell, Bradley J. Nelson

Abstract: The contact phase of an assembly task involving micro and nano objects is complicated by the presence of surface and intermolecular forces such as electrostatic, surface-tension and Van der Waals forces. Assembly strategies must account for the presence of these forces in order to guarantee successful repeatable micro and nanoassemblies with high precision. A detailed model for this electrostatic interaction is developed and analyzed. Based on the results of this analysis, dielectrophoretic assembly principles of MEMS/NEMS devices are proposed and experimentally verified with microtweezers for micro Ni parts and with nanoelectrodes fabricated with electron-beam lithography for carbon nanotube assembly. The successful manipulation and assembly of single carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using dielectrophoretic forces produced by nanoelectrodes will lead to a higher integration of CNTs into both nanoelectronics and NEMS.

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Bibtex:

@INPROCEEDINGS{ Subramanian-RSS-05,
    AUTHOR    = {Arunkumar Subramanian and Barmeshwar Vikramaditya 
                 and Lixin Dong and Dominik Bell and Bradley J. Nelson},
    TITLE     = {Micro and Nanorobotic Assembly Using
                 Dielectrophoresis},
    BOOKTITLE = {Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems},
    YEAR      = {2005},
    ADDRESS   = {Cambridge, USA},
    MONTH     = {June},
    DOI       = {10.15607/RSS.2005.I.043} 
}