Micro manipulation based on physical phenomena in micro world (1st report, the reduction method of van der Waals force)

Micromanipulation is required for assembly and maintenance of micromachines and their parts. If the handled objects are miniaturized, interactive forces between microparticles and gripper surface become dominant. Attractive forces such as van der Waals forces, forces caused by liquid bridges and electrostatic forces in the air cannot be neglected. It is necessary to consider the physics of these forces in the micro world in controlling and manipulating micro-objects. We propose a handling strategy for micro-objects based on the physics in the micro world. Attractive forces are modeled and their reduction methods are presented. We show experimental results of reducing these forces. Based on the proposed reduction methods, we present a new micromanipulation strategy.