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Topic Name: Robots “hand-make” devices on nano assembly line
Category: Robotics
Research persons: Prof. Dr. Sergej Fatikow , Peter Bøggild
Location: DTU - Building 345east, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Details
Researchers are developing an assembly line to build
nanotechnology devices, which will
hopefully greatly increase the efficiency of nanofabrication. The line workers
in the system will likely be tiny robots, which will use hands just 10,000 times
as large as human hands to “hand-make” future
nanodevices.
The researchers, led by Peter Bøggild and Sergej Fatikow of the
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
and the University of Oldenburg, have published their results in a recent issue
of Nanotechnology. They have demonstrated an example of an assembly line
procedure for the making a simple nanodevice—a microscope tip.
The key to the assembly line is the tiny robot hand, which is also called a
“silicon gripper.” A
nanorobotic arm controls the hand, which can pick up a
carbon nanofiber and place it on
the tip of an
atomic force microscope. The nanofiber then acts as a sharp scanning probe
on the microscope, which can be used for scanning in deep grooves.
The hand is able to pick things up by expanding and contracting its jaws. When
the hand is heated by an electrical current, the jaws are thermally expanded
from zero microns up to three microns. Upon cooling, the jaws are again closed.
The researchers still face challenges before a complete system can be developed,
however. Besides making strong, flexible fingers that are also small and thin,
the engineers also have to enable the hand to control structures that are as
small as 10 nanometers, all while dealing with surface forces on the
nanoscale that make everything “sticky.”
Nevertheless, the researchers believe that the nanorobotic system is the most
promising approach toward the rapid prototyping of future nanodevices. Along
with collaborators from EU projects NanoHand
and NANORAC, they hope to develop a complete
nanoassembly line by 2009.
About Researchers & Contacts:
Peter Bøggild
MIC - Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
DTU - Building 345east
DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
Building 345east, 1st floor,
Room no. 149
Direct tel.no.: +45 4525 5723
E-mail: boggild@mic.dtu.dk
Prof. Dr. Sergej Fatikow
Abteilung:
Mikrorobotik und Regelungstechnik - AMiR
Postanschrift:
Prof. Dr. Sergej Fatikow
Carl v. Ossietzky Universität
Department für Informatik
26111 OldenburgTelefon: (0441) 798-4260 / -4291
Telefax: (0441) 798-3141 / -4267
E-Mail: fatikow@uni-oldenburg.de
Gebäude/Raum: A1 3-309
Some Important Notes:
Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of
applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter
on the
molecular level in scales smaller than 1
micrometre,
normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size
range.
It is a highly
multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as
applied physics,
materials science,
colloidal
science,
device physics,
supramolecular chemistry, and even
mechanical and
electrical engineering. Much speculation exists as to what new science and
technology may result from these lines of research. Nanotechnology can be seen
as an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale, or as a recasting of
existing sciences using a newer, more modern term.
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach,
materials and devices are built from
molecular
components which
assemble themselves chemically by principles of
molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are
constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control. The impetus for
nanotechnology comes from a renewed interest in colloidal science, coupled with
a new generation of analytical tools such as the
atomic force microscope (AFM), and the
scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Combined with refined processes such as
electron beam lithography and
molecular beam epitaxy, these instruments allow the deliberate manipulation
of nanostructures, and led to the observation of novel phenomena.
Examples of nanotechnology in modern use are the manufacture of polymers
based on molecular structure, and the design of
computer chip layouts based on surface science. Despite the great promise of
numerous nanotechnologies such as
quantum
dots and
nanotubes, real commercial applications have mainly used the advantages of
colloidal nanoparticles in bulk form, such as
suntan lotion,
cosmetics,
protective coatings, and stain resistant clothing.
For more information:
http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~bushnell/dsmdesign/dsmlecture27.ppt
http://carg.epfl.ch/page2241.html
http://www.nsti.org/procs/Nanotech2004v3/4
http://www.nanotech-now.com/
http://www.crnano.org/whatis.htm
http://www.nanotechnology.com/
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer/nanodevices
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanofibers
http://www.nanohand.eu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_force_microscope
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