Micro-ring based manipulation of magnetized particles.

The micromanipulation of untethered magnetic particles facilitates actuation, assembly, and characterization of samples for micro- and nanotechnology applications. Conventionally, macro-scale electromagnets combined with visual servo control are employed to manipulate untethered particles. Here, we propose to employ a micro-ring actuator and a strategy based on parametric excitation for manipulation of magnetized particles against a surface in a liquid medium, which does not require visual feedback.

A magnetometer for estimating the magnetic moment of magnetic micro-particles.

Magnetic micro-particles find a variety of applications as actuators at the micrometer and nanometer length scales. While the actuation gain is directly proportional to their magnetic moment, there are relatively few technologies available to estimate the magnetic moment of individual magnetic particles. This paper proposes a magnetometer for direct measurement of the magnetic moment of ferromagnetic micro-particles.

Note: A resonating reflector-based optical system for motion measurement in micro-cantilever arrays.

A robust, compact optical measurement unit for motion measurement in micro-cantilever arrays enables development of portable micro-cantilever sensors. This paper reports on an optical beam deflection-based system to measure the deflection of micro-cantilevers in an array that employs a single laser source, a single detector, and a resonating reflector to scan the measurement laser across the array. A strategy is also proposed to extract the deflection of individual cantilevers from the acquired data.

A magnetic micro-manipulator for application of three dimensional forces.

Magnetic manipulation finds diverse applications in actuation, characterization, and manipulation of micro- and nano-scale samples. This paper presents the design and development of a novel magnetic micro-manipulator for application of three-dimensional forces on a magnetic micro-bead. A simple analytical model is proposed to obtain the forces of interaction between the magnetic micro-manipulator and a magnetic micro-bead.