A Novel 3-DOF Micromanipulator

Abstract

In this study, a stiff HARM (high aspect ratio micromachining) manipulator is reported. Since the micromanipulator is made of single crystal silicon, it has superior mechanical properties. The micromanipulator is consisted of a position stage and a robot arm. Moreover, the robot arm is monolithically integrated with the position stage through the micromachining fabrication processes. Hence, its in-plane and out-of-plane positions are precisely controlled by two comb drive actuators and a vertical comb, respectively. In applications, the robotarm, which has three degrees of freedom (DOF), can be exploited as a micromanipulator.