Automated robotic assembly for a micro-cartridge system inside the scanning electron microscope

Abstract

The AFM is a common tool for ultra-precise surface characterization and a standard instrument a variety of research and development disciplines. However, the characterization of three dimensional high-aspect ratio and sidewall structures remains a hardly accomplishable task. Novel exchangeable and customizable scanning probe tips - NanoBits - can be attached to standard AFM cantilevers offering unprecedented freedom in adapting the shape and size of the tips. These NanoBits of few μm size have to be assembled into micro-cartridges. This challenging assembly task is performed inside the SEM by a micro-gripper. A powerful automation framework has been developed facilitating image based automation and visual servoing for this task. Template matching, BLOB-detection, and special SEM-based detection approaches are used to achieve the automated assembly.