Micro-gripper

Abstract

A method is described for producing a micro-gripper, which comprises a base body and a gripping body connected integrally to the base body, which projects beyond the base body and provides a receptacle slot on a free end area in such a way that a micrometer-scale or sub-micrometer-scale object may be clamped in the receptacle slot for gripping and holding, as well as a micro-gripper according to the species.

1 . A micro-gripper for clamping objects with dimensions less than micrometer comprising:
 receptacle slot for gripping and holding the objects between a first gripping element and a second gripping element:   the first gripping element including at least one first material layer disposed on a first sacrificial layer;   the second griping element including the at least one first material layer bonded to a second material layer at a base body of the micro-gripper;   the receptacle slot including ends respectively comprising the at least one first and the second material layers with the receptacle slot being disposed between the at least one first material layer and the second material layer; and wherein   the base body and the gripping body are a planar body defined by two flat overlapping planar body surfaces oriented parallel to one another.   
     
     
         2 . A micro-gripper, comprising a base body and a gripping body connected integrally to the base body, which projects beyond the base body and provides a receptacle slot on a free end area that a micrometer-scale or sub-micrometer-scale object may be clamped in the receptacle slot for gripping and holding, and wherein the base body and the gripping body are a planar body, which is exclusively defined by two flat planar body surfaces oriented parallel to one another and overlapping and at least one first and one second material layer are at least in an area directly bonded to one another. 
     
     
         3 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the planar body surfaces completely overlap.   
     
     
         4 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the planar body surfaces correspond to a circular sector having a centerpoint angle α≦180° and the gripper body is located on a circular sector tip which projects beyond the circular sector.   
     
     
         5 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the planar body surfaces correspond to a circular segment having a centerpoint angle α≦180° and the gripping body is located in a center of a circular segment chord, projecting beyond the circular segment.   
     
     
         6 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the planar body surfaces comprise a polygon and the gripping body project beyond a peripheral edge of the polygon.   
     
     
         7 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 4 , wherein:
 the circular sector has a circular radius adapted to a radius of a sample retainer of a microscope, a SE microscope or TE microscope.   
     
     
         8 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 5 , wherein:
 the circular segment has a circular radius adapted to a radius of a sample retainer of a microscope, a SE microscope or TE microscope.   
     
     
         9 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 7 , wherein:
 the circular radius is 1.5 mm.   
     
     
         10 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 8 , wherein:
 the circular radius is 1.5 mm.   
     
     
         11 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the receptacle slot has internal clamping faces which are parallel to, spaced apart from, and overlapping one another.   
     
     
         12 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the clamping faces include a dimension of 10 nm to 10 μm.   
     
     
         13 . The micro-gripper of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the dimension is 50 nm to 1 μm.   
     
     
         14 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 11 , wherein:
 the clamping faces are rectangular or square.   
     
     
         15 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the clamping faces have a shape tapering in a direction toward the opening of the receptacle slot.   
     
     
         16 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 the clamping faces have a shape tapering in a direction toward an opening of the receptacle slot.   
     
     
         17 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the clamping faces completely overlap.   
     
     
         18 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 the clamping faces completely overlap.   
     
     
         19 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the base body and the gripping body comprise one of: plastic, ceramic, metal, semimetal, or polysilicon.   
     
     
         20 . The micro-gripper according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the base body and the gripping body include uniform material layers comprising different materials.   
     
     
         21 . A method of use of the micro-gripper according to  claim 2  comprising accommodating, transporting, and holding material samples during study in a TE microscope.