Nanomanipulation
Pick up, position and assemble nano-objects (wires, particles, flakes) inside the electron microscope.
Seeing a nanowire or a sub-micron particle is one thing; moving it exactly where you want, without losing it, is another. It takes a manipulator with sub-nanometre resolution, no backlash, and enough working range to reach across the stage.
Kleindiek manipulators do this inside the microscope: grasp an object, lift it, place it, or hold it while a second arm cuts, bonds or pulls. The introduction sets out how it works, the two-arm handling article covers multi-manipulator assembly, and the video series shows it in action.
Datasheets & application notes
Articles & videos
Short, focused reads and in-microscope footage — start with the introduction or jump to a technique.
Technical deep-dives
Products used
iLO Control Software
The graphical lift-out control software — drag-and-drop positioning with automatic beam, rotation and magnification compensation.
View product
Micro Gripper MGS2
A two-jaw micro-gripper that picks up, holds and repositions micro-objects inside the electron microscope.
View product
MM3E
An encoded, closed-loop micromanipulator — define parking and working positions and recall them at the click of a button.
View product
MM3A-EM
The industry-standard spherical micromanipulator — the platform every Kleindiek plug-in tool attaches to, with 3000+ units in the field.
View product
MM3A-EM for Phenom
The MM3A-EM micromanipulator integrated into the Phenom desktop SEM — add a needle, microgripper or force sensor to your benchtop instrument.
View product
Microtweezer MTW
A piezo-driven microtweezer for pick-and-place — one jaw fixed, one jaw stepping in 0.25 nm increments across a 3 mm span.
View product
RoTip
A rotational-axis plug-in that adds a fourth degree of freedom — continuous 0.1° rotation for true FIB lathe milling, tomography and STEM.
View productRelated publications
Bottom-up Nanoconstruction by the Welding of Individual Metallic Nanoobjects Using Nanoscale Solder
DOI 10.1021/nl8025339Age determination of single plutonium particles after chemical separation
DOI 10.1016/j.sab.2008.10.044Amplitude Response of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Probe with Controlled Length during Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy
DOI 10.1021/jp804481gThe Very Low Shear Modulus of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Determined Simultaneously with the Axial Young’s Modulus via in situ Experiments
DOI 10.1002/adfm.200701105Self-Retracting Motion of Graphite Microflakes
DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.067205Forging of metallic nano-objects for the fabrication of submicron-size components
DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/18/12/125303Cutting and sharpening carbon nanotubes using a carbon nanotube ‘nanoknife’
DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/18/18/185503Design of a microgripping system with visual and force feedback for MEMS applications
Evaluation of different control algorithms for a micromanipulation system
Controlled cleavage of single semiconducting nanowires and study on the suitability of their use as nanocavities for nanolasers
DOI 10.1063/1.1757635Transfer of a single particle for combined ESEM and TEM analyses
DOI 10.1016/S1352-2310(03)00574-0High-resolution nanowire atomic force microscope probe grown by a field-emission induced process
DOI 10.1063/1.1765202Fabrication of super-sharp nanowire atomic force microscope probes using a field emission induced growth technique
DOI 10.1063/1.1791321Talk to an application engineer
Tell us your sample and your microscope — we’ll walk you through the workflow and route you to the right regional team.