A MEMS Nanopositioner With Integrated Tip for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Not provided.
Engineering↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “Nanopositioner”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
A serial-kinematic nanopositioner for high-speed atomic force microscopy
A flexure-guided serial-kinematic XYZ nanopositioner for high-speed Atomic Force Microscopy is presented in this paper. Two aspects influencing the performance of serial-kinematic nanopositioners are studied in this work. First, mass reduction by using tapered flexures is proposed to increased the natural frequency of the nanopositioner. 25% increase in the natural frequency is achieved due to reduced mass with tapered flexures. Second, a study of possible sensor positioning in a serial-kinematic nanopositioner is presented. An arrangement of sensors for exact estimation of cross-coupling is incorporated in the proposed design. A feedforward control strategy based on phaser approach is presented to mitigate the dynamics and nonlinearity in the system. Limitations in design approach and control strategy are discussed in the Conclusion.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
High-stroke silicon-on-insulator MEMS nanopositioner: Control design for non-raster scan atomic force microscopy
A 2-degree of freedom microelectromechanical systems nanopositioner designed for on-chip atomic force microscopy (AFM) is presented. The device is fabricated using a silicon-on-insulator-based process and is designed as a parallel kinematic mechanism. It contains a central scan table and two sets of electrostatic comb actuators along each orthogonal axis, which provides displacement ranges greater than ±10 μm. The first in-plane resonance modes are located at 1274 Hz and 1286 Hz for the X and Y axes, respectively. To measure lateral displacements of the stage, electrothermal position sensors are incorporated in the design. To facilitate high-speed scans, the highly resonant dynamics of the system are controlled using damping loops in conjunction with internal model controllers that enable accurate tracking of fast sinusoidal set-points. To cancel the effect of sensor drift on controlled displacements, washout controllers are used in the damping loops. The feedback controlled nanopositioner is successfully used to perform several AFM scans in contact mode via a Lissajous scan method with a large scan area of 20 μm × 20 μm. The maximum scan rate demonstrated is 1 kHz.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
A High-Speed Z-Axis MEMS STM Nanopositioner
Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is a powerful and versatile tool, not only capable of obtaining topographic information at atomic levels from a conductive surface, but also suited for patterning, manipulation and other applications, all with unprecedented precision. A typical STM’s operation relies on the quantum tunneling phenomenon. Providing a few angstroms of tip-sample separation, and a bias voltage between the two, a tunneling current (TC) is established. The tunneling current is logarithmically proportional to the tip sample separation . During imaging, a three degree of freedom (DOF) piezotube is employed to scan the tip over the surface, while a PI controller drives the Z axis in order to maintain the tunneling current at the set value. Therefore, an image of the sample surface can be constructed using the Z axis controller output, along with the corresponding X, and Y coordinates from the piezotube. Despite its well-established use in high precision applications, the achievable scan speed of the conventional STM has remained limited since its advent. One of the main reasons limiting the achievable scan speed is the relatively low operation bandwidth of the bulky piezotube Z-axis positioner, which is typically less than 1 kHz in conventional systems . This limitation correspondingly hinders the ability of the Z-axis controller to rapidly respond to the changes in the topography during the scan. To address this limitation, we design, build and characterize a high-bandwidth, 1-DOF nanopositioner with an electrostatic parallel plate actuation mechanism and a conductive tip, to replace the Z axis of the currently available STM piezotubes (Figure 1). The device is microfabricated using an SOI wafer with two device layers, where the top-most layer is designated for the tunneling current sensing, and contains the conductive tip realized by FIB induced deposition. The bottom device layer, on the other hand, comprises the actuation mechanism along with the shuttle and mechanical flexures, that provides 2-µm displacement range in one direction, comparable to a typical STM piezoelectric tube scanner. Importantly, the nanopositioner is structurally designed to have a -3dB bandwidth of 15.6 kHz, increasing the STM positioners’ Z axis bandwidth more than an order of magnitude as experimentally shown in Figure 2. Using this system we were able to demonstrate that tunneling current can be successfully established on an HOPG sample in air and successfully maintained for over two minutes (Figures 3-4).
FIB↗
A high bandwidth microelectromechanical system-based nanopositioner for scanning tunneling microscopy
Limited Z-axis bandwidth of piezotube scanners used in conventional Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STMs) has been a major limiting factor in achieving high scan speeds in STM applications. Slow Z-axis dynamics of typical piezotube scanners combined with the weight of the STM tip/tip holder assembly, that the scanner has to carry, substantially limit the achievable Z-axis bandwidth in both imaging and lithography modes. To tackle this issue, we introduce a high bandwidth microelectromechanical-system-based nanopositioner to be integrated into an existing STM scanner. The device is designed to replace the STM tip and fine Z-positioning mechanisms in the conventional STM setup, while providing an order of magnitude higher bandwidth in Z axis. The device is microfabricated using double silicon-on-isolator technology, and standard cleanroom processes. Experiments show that tunneling current between the device tip and a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite sample can be successfully established and maintained in air using the proposed device in a feedback loop. Results suggest that the proposed device uniquely combines a very high resolution and a large stroke with a substantially larger Z-axis bandwidth compared to that of conventional STM piezotube scanners, enabling higher scanning speeds in STM operations.
42 ENGINEERING↗
FPAA-based control of a high-speed flexure-guided AFM nanopositioner
Not Available
Khodabakhshi, Erfan (ORCID:0000000150457592)↗
Convex Synthesis of SNI Controllers Based on Frequency-Domain Data: MEMS Nanopositioner Example
Not provided.
Automation & Control Systems↗
Negative Imaginary Control Using Hybrid Integrator-Gain Systems: Application to MEMS Nanopositioner
Not provided.
Automation & Control Systems↗
MEMS nanopositioner and method of fabrication
A microelectromechanical (MEMS) device is provided. The MEMS device comprises a substrate and a movable structure flexurally connected to the substrate, capable of moving in relation to the substrate, wherein the movable structure further comprising two or more segments having at least one mechanical connection between said segments to provide structural integrity of the moving structure; and wherein the at least one mechanical connection electrically isolates at least two segments.
Moheimani, Seyed Omid Reza↗
Fabrication of Six Degrees-of-Freedom Hexflex Positioner With Integrated Strain Sensing Using Nonlithographically Based Microfabrication
In this study, a process flow is described for the low cost, flexible fabrication of metal micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) with high performance integrated sensing. The process is capable of producing new designs in ≈1 week at an average unit cost of <$1 k/device even at batch sizes of ≈1–10, with expected sensing performance limits of about 135 dB over a 10 kHz sensor bandwidth. This is a ≈20× reduction in cost, ≈25× reduction in time, and potentially >30× increase in sensing dynamic range over comparable state-of-the-art compliant nanopositioners. The nonlithographically based microfabrication (NLBM) process is uniquely suited to create high performance nanopositioning architectures which are customizable to the positioning requirements of a range of nanoscale applications. These can significantly reduce the cost of nanomanufacturing research and development, as well as accelerate the development of new processes and the testing of fabrication process chains without excess capital investment. A six degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) flexural nanopositioner with integrated sensing for all 6DOF was fabricated using the newly developed process chain. The fabrication process was measured to have ≈30 μ m alignment. Sensor arm, flexure, and trace widths of 150 μ m, 150 μ m, and 800 μ m, respectively, were demonstrated. Process capabilities suggest lower bounds of 25 μ m, 50 μ m, and 100 μ m, respectively. Dynamic range sensing of 52 dB was demonstrated for the nanopositioner over a 10 kHz sensor bandwidth. Improvements are proposed to approach sensor performance of about 135 dB over a 10 kHz sensor bandwidth.
42 ENGINEERING↗
A closed-loop phase-locked interferometer for wide bandwidth position sensing
This article describes a position sensitive interferometer with closed-loop control of the reference mirror. A calibrated nanopositioner is used to lock the interferometer phase to the most sensitive point in the interferogram. In this configuration, large low-frequency movements of the sensor mirror can be detected from the control signal applied to the nanopositioner and high-frequency short-range signals can be measured directly from the photodiode. It is demonstrated that these two signals are complementary and can be summed to find the total displacement. The resulting interferometer has a number of desirable characteristics: it is optically simple, does not require polarization or modulation to detect the direction of motion, does not require fringe-counting or interpolation electronics, and has a bandwidth equal to that of the photodiode. Experimental results demonstrate the frequency response analysis of a high-speed positioning stage. The proposed instrument is ideal for measuring the frequency response of nanopositioners, electro-optical components, MEMs devices, ultrasonic devices, and sensors such as surface acoustic wave detectors.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Compact ultrahigh vacuum sample environments for x-ray nanobeam diffraction and imaging
X-ray nanobeams present the opportunity to obtain structural insight in materials with small volumes or nanoscale heterogeneity. The effective spatial resolution of the information derived from nanobeam techniques depends on the stability and precision with which the relative position of the x-ray optics and sample can be controlled. Nanobeam techniques include diffraction, imaging, and coherent scattering, with applications throughout materials science and condensed matter physics. Sample positioning is a significant mechanical challenge for x-ray instrumentation providing vacuum or controlled gas environments at elevated temperatures. Such environments often have masses that are too large for nanopositioners capable of the required positional accuracy of the order of a small fraction of the x-ray spot size. Similarly, the need to place x-ray optics as close as 1 cm to the sample places a constraint on the overall size of the sample environment. We illustrate a solution to the mechanical challenge in which compact ion-pumped ultrahigh vacuum chambers with masses of 1–2 kg are integrated with nanopositioners. The overall size of the environment is sufficiently small to allow their use with zone-plate focusing optics. We describe the design of sample environments for elevated-temperature nanobeam diffraction experiments demonstrate in situ diffraction, reflectivity, and scanning nanobeam imaging of the ripening of Au crystallites on Si substrates.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
SOI-MEMS Bulk Piezoresistive Displacement Sensor: A Comparative Study of Readout Circuits
Performance of several readout circuits, when applied to a MEMS-based bulk piezoresistive displacement sensor is compared in this study. The sensor comprises a pair of tilted clamped-guided silicon beams whose bulk piezoresistivity is used for displacement sensing. Wheatstone half-bridge, constant-voltage, and constant-current circuits are implemented to measure resistance changes of this sensor. We report full characterization of the sensor with these circuits and explore the sensor’s important characteristics such as linearity, bandwidth, and noise. The results reveal that the constant-current circuit provides the highest sensitivity at equal-power bias condition. Here, we find that the resolution of the sensor is degraded from 1.6 nm with the Wheatstone half-bridge and constant-voltage circuits to about 4.2 nm with the constant-current configuration. In the frequency domain, the sensor captures the full dynamics of the MEMS nanopositioner up to 20 kHz with all readout circuits.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Iterative Learning Control for Video-rate Atomic Force Microscopy
We present a control scheme for video-rate atomic force microscopy with rosette pattern. The controller structure involves a feedback internal-model-based controller and a feedforward iterative learning controller. The iterative learning controller is designed to improve tracking performance of the feedback-controlled scanner by rejecting the repetitive disturbances arising from the system nonlinearities. We investigate the performance of two inversion techniques for constructing the learning filter. We conduct tracking experiments using a two-degree-of-freedom microelectromechanical system (MEMS) nanopositioner at frame rates ranging from 5 to 20 frames per second. Furthermore, the results reveal that the algorithm converges rapidly and the iterative learning controller significantly reduces both the transient and steady-state tracking errors. We acquire and report a series of high-resolution time-lapsed video-rate AFM images with the rosette pattern.
42 ENGINEERING↗
A 4 K cryogenic probe for use in magnetic resonance force microscopy experiments
The detailed design of a mechanically detected nuclear magnetic resonance probe using the SPAM (Springiness Preservation by Aligning Magnetization) geometry, operating at 4 K, in vacuum, and a several-Tesla magnetic field is described. The probe head is vibration-isolated well enough from the environment by a three-spring suspension system that the cantilever achieves thermal equilibrium with the environment without the aid of eddy current damping. The probe uses an ultra-soft Si cantilever with a Ni sphere attached to its tip, and magnetic resonance is registered as a change in the resonant frequency of the driven cantilever. The RF system uses frequency sweeps for adiabatic rapid passage using a 500 μm diameter RF coil wound around a sapphire rod. The RF coil and optical fiber of the interferometer used to sense the cantilever's position are both located with respect to the cantilever using a Garbini micropositioner, and the sample stage is mounted on an Attocube nanopositioner.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Strong exciton-photon coupling in open semiconductor microcavities
We present a method to implement 3-dimensional polariton confinement with in-situ spectral tuning of the cavity mode. Our tunable microcavity is a hybrid system consisting of a bottom semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) with a cavity containing quantum wells (QWs) grown on top and a dielectric concave DBR separated by a micrometer sized gap. Nanopositioners allow independent positioning of the two mirrors and the cavity mode energy can be tuned by controlling the distance between them. When close to resonance, we observe a characteristic anticrossing between the cavity modes and the QW exciton demonstrating strong coupling. For the smallest radii of curvature concave mirrors of 5.6 μm and 7.5 μm, real-space polariton imaging reveals submicron polariton confinement due to the hemispherical cavity geometry.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Direct measurements of irradiation-induced creep in micropillars of amorphous Cu{sub 56}Ti{sub 38}Ag{sub 6}, Zr{sub 52}Ni{sub 48}, Si, and SiO{sub 2}
We report in situ measurements of irradiation-induced creep on amorphous (a-) Cu{sub 56}Ti{sub 38}Ag{sub 6}, Zr{sub 52}Ni{sub 48}, Si, and SiO{sub 2}. Micropillars 1 μm in diameter and 2 μm in height were irradiated with ∼2 MeV heavy ions during uniaxial compression at room temperature. The creep measurements were performed using a custom mechanical testing apparatus utilizing a nanopositioner, a silicon beam transducer, and an interferometric laser displacement sensor. We observed Newtonian flow in all tested materials. For a-Cu{sub 56}Ti{sub 38}Ag{sub 6}, a-Zr{sub 52}Ni{sub 48}, a-Si, and Kr{sup +} irradiated a-SiO{sub 2} irradiation-induced fluidities were found to be nearly the same, ≈3 GPa{sup −1} dpa{sup −1}, whereas for Ne{sup +} irradiated a-SiO{sub 2} the fluidity was much higher, 83 GPa{sup −1} dpa{sup −1}. A fluidity of 3 GPa{sup −1} dpa{sup −1} can be explained by point-defect mediated plastic flow induced by nuclear collisions. The fluidity of a-SiO{sub 2} can also be explained by this model when nuclear stopping dominates the energy loss, but when the electronic stopping exceeds 1 keV/nm, stress relaxation in thermal spikes also contributes to the fluidity.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
Tunable polaritonic molecules in an open microcavity system
We experimentally demonstrate tunable coupled cavities based upon open access zero-dimensional hemispherical microcavities. The modes of the photonic molecules are strongly coupled with quantum well excitons forming a system of tunable polaritonic molecules. The cavity-cavity coupling strength, which is determined by the degree of modal overlap, is controlled through the fabricated centre-to-centre distance and tuned in-situ through manipulation of both the exciton-photon and cavity-cavity detunings by using nanopositioners to vary the mirror separation and angle between them. We demonstrate micron sized confinement combined with high photonic Q-factors of 31 000 and lower polariton linewidths of 150 μeV at resonance along with cavity-cavity coupling strengths between 2.5 meV and 60 μeV for the ground cavity state.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗