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Bradley J. Nelson, Principal Investigator

Design and Development of MEMS-based Micromanipulation Tools

Many emerging fields that hold a great deal of future potential, such as manipulation of individual biological cells and micromechatronics, deal in microscale phenomena. With the increasing impact of these areas on our society, there is a need to build hybrid MEMS devices with greater functionality and hence, greater complexity. However, the lack of robust micromanipulation strategies that handle as well as assemble microparts automatically, presents a technology barrier to the objective of realizing such hybrid devices. The research efforts at the Advanced Microsystems Laboratory are focused on overcoming this technology barrier and developing micromanipulation tools that are required for the biological manipulation of cells and for the automated microassembly of hybrid MEMS devices.

In the area of single cell manipulation, the Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) of foreigh genetic material into mouse egg cells has been investigated by a number of researchers during recent years and it has been shown that the successful fertilization of egg cells is primarily governed by the mechanics of cell penetration. This has motivated our initiative, which focuses on the development of a MEMS based force sensor to measure penetration forces during ICSI. This variable capacitance micro-force sensor has a comb structure and operates in the 1-500 mNm force range. The cell penetration forces and moments are reflected as bending and torsion in the plates of the interdigitated capacitors. The research at the Supercomputing Institute involves Finite Element modeling, analysis and design of the force sensor using ansys, and MEMS process simulation using memcad.

The automated microassembly project, funded by Seagate Technology Inc., involves the assembly of small sized magnets in linear microactuators. The assembling sequence of these magnets depends primarily on the forces of interaction that exist between the microparts. The research at the Supercomputing Institute is dealing with modeling these interaction forces using Finite Element tools and simulating the assembly sequence.

The microgripper project seeks to address the need for grasping and manipulating micron sized objects. The successful gripping and releasing of microparts requires and accurate understanding of the object interaction forces at the microscale. This work deals with modeling of adhesive forces between microparts using Finite Element tools and MEMS process simulation and layout design for fabrication using memcad.

This information is available in alternative formats upon request by individuals with disabilities. Please send email to alt-format@msi.umn.edu or call 612-624-0528.

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