Chapter Three - Mechanical, Electrostatic, and Electromagnetic Manipulation of Microobjects and Nanoobjects in Electron Microscopes

Abstract

Abstract We review methods and instruments for micromanipulation in electron microscopes. This kind of manipulation allows handling of individual micro- and nanoobjects with nanometer precision. Most known micromanipulation technique in an electron microscope is mechanical (or contact) manipulation. In this case positioning of an object is performed either with a needle-shaped probe tip or with a microgripper attached to a micromanipulator, while the electron microscope serves as an imaging tool. The other possibility is non-contact manipulation which is based on intrinsic features of the electron microscope. For instance an electron beam could charge illuminated objects which may cause their motion resulted from electrostatic interaction. Another feature is generation of electromagnetic field by passing electrons; this causes polarization of the object and therefore its movement. The review consists of four sections. In the first section we describe forces which act on a supported particle under electron beam illumination. Second part is dedicated to mechanical manipulation where we review various commercial and hand-made systems. In particular, we pay special attention to non-standard manipulation techniques (such as automatic manipulation) or investigation of mechanical properties of micro- and nanoobjects (adhesion, hardness, friction) using micromanipulators. The third and forth parts describe electrostatic and electromagnetic manipulation methods, respectively. These methods are much less known and the number of publications related to them is quite limited, therefore we describe each work in details.