Nanoparticle manipulation using atomic force microscopy

To develop nanotechnology, nanoparticle manipulation plays an important role in the assembly of nanoelements. This study aims to manipulate nanoparticles using an atomic force microscope and an X-Y positioning stage. Strain gauges serve as sensors to measure the travel distance of piezo-drivers in an X-Y stage in an atomic force microscopy system. Nanoparticles are pushed based on sliding mode control whose robust properties can deal with model uncertainty and disturbance. In addition, a fuzzy controller is responsible for compensating tip-particle contact loss, so as to establish an accurate and stable manipulation system. Experimental results demonstrate pushing nanoparticles on inclined substrates, different limited scanning ranges with different slope angles, and removing and remaining nanoparticles on inclined substrates.