Micro-factory for Submerged Assembly: Interests and Architectures

The development of new hybrid microsystems needs new technologies which are able to perform assembly of small micro-objects. Now, the current micromanipulation technologies are still unreliable for micro-objects which typical size is down to hundred micrometers. Consequently, the study and the development of innovative artificial micro-object manipulation strategies in these dimensions are particularly relevant. As presented in the literature, micromanipulations are perturbed by the adhesion and surface forces which depend on surrounding mediums. We propose to perform micro-assembly tasks in liquid medium, because adhesion and surface forces applied on submerged microobjects are less important than in air. An overview of the microforces in air and in liquid is presented in this paper. This paper focuses on the architecture of a submerged assembly cell including the definition of stocks, conveyance systems and workstations. Defining the architecture of the submerged assembly cell is indeed a keypoint of the cell design. The stocks and workstations could be for example place in a large unique liquid medium or in a collection of droplets. Transfers of micro-objects in the submerged assembly cell may be obtained by: (i) moving the micro-objects in an unique liquid medium; (ii) moving the micro-objects through the air from one to another liquid medium; (iii) transfert of micro-objects by movement of the liquid bowl. The analysis of the combination of different transfer types allows the construction of the typical architectures of assembly cell for submerged medium.