Assembly of micro systems in a large-chamber scanning electron microscope

The assembly of hybrid micro systems is usually done by hand with the help of tweezers and optical microscopes. However, only the automation will lead to an efficient and precise assembly process. This paper describes mechanical grippers for automated micro assembly. These grippers are powered by piezo systems and are able to move their arms in sub-mu m steps in order to grip micro parts very precisely. They are equiped with sensors for the detection of gripping force and have been designed especially for use in a large-chamber scanning electron microscope (LC-SEM). The LC-SEM allows online process observation with a very high depth of focus and a large lateral resolution. It has a 2 m3 vacuum chamber in which complete assembly units can be installed