Towards Robot-based Manipulation, Characterization and Automation at the Nanoscale

Automated robot-based manipulation and characterization at the nanoscale constitutes a major challenge due to the large special and force uncertainties and the limited control options due to the lack of adequate sensor feedback information. This paper is a short introduction of this new research field of industrial robotics, highlighting the advantages and limits of this upcoming technology. It presents several examples from the current industry-driven projects in our Division, which deal with robot-based fabrication, measurement, and characterization inside the scanning electron microscope (SEM). When applying advanced fast image processing, the images delivered by the SEM enables proper control of sophisticated handling routines inside the SEM and allows for fully-automated robotic operation. Experimental results reveal a high repeatability of such processes.