Ultra-Compact Nanomanipulator: miBot BT-11 from Imina Technologies

The miBot™ BT-11 from Imina Technologies is the world’s smallest nanometer resolution manipulator available on the market.

The mobile micro-robot manipulator uses piezo actuators in an innovative mobile motion technology to allow simple and accurate control. It has no mounting screws, therefore, it can be pre-positioned by hand without any major difficulty, and can be easily set-up and reconfigured.

Since the manipulator’s movements are not fixed, it can be easily controlled. This can help reduce the time taken to realize complex manipulation and prevent the chance of sample damage.

With the new miBot™ BT-11, positioning, sensing and manipulation have now been made fast and easy at micro and nano scales. Additionally, different micro-tools can be fixed easily on the miBot™ tool holder, making it perfect for R&D applications in photonics, material science and microelectronics.

Key Features

The key features of the miBot™ BT-11 nanomanipulator are:

• Unprecedented ease-of-use
• No mounting screws
• Easy to set-up and reconfigure
• Intuitive to control
• Delivers scalable positioning resolutions from micrometer to nanometer
• Sensitivity to vibrations is radically lowered with short-arm length
• Monolithic design offers enhanced mechanical and thermal stability compared to larger manipulators with multiple axes
• Moves in scanning mode (0.5nm) and stepping mode (2.5mm/s operating velocity)
• Explores large samples with vibration-free nanometer resolution motion
• Piezoelectric actuators help provide scalable positioning resolution
• Centimeter range displacements
• Decoupled movements
• Lowers footprint of positioning instruments on customers’ test bench or microscope
• Functions under high vacuum
• Safeguards customers’ investment over time with an adaptable system designed for upgradability
• Compatible with multiple tools and probes

Applications

The main applications of the miBot™ BT-11 nanomanipulator are as follows:

• Micro / nano handling
• Electrical probing (failure analysis)
• SEM / TEM sample preparation
• MEMS testing
• Microassembly
• In situ material characterization