Design of a novel visual and control system for the prevention of the collision during the micro handling in a SEM chamber

This paper presents a video system for preventing a collision of the micro gripper and the stage on which the micro component is located during micro manipulation in the chamber of a scanning electron microscope. This system consists of a micro manipulation station, micro camera with magnification lenses and a reflective specimen stub. Special focus is given to the approach procedure of the micro gripper toward the micro component, a sequence that is crucial during a micro manipulation process. A new control program which replaced the original manual control of the micro manipulation station enables improved system performance, especially fine adjustment, positioning and manipulation.