Non-impact deposition for electrostatic micromanipulation of a conductive particle by a single probe

This note reports on an experimental demonstration of non-impact deposition for electrostatic micromanipulation of a conductive particle by a single probe. The experimental system consists of a probe, a 30-micrometers-in-diameter particle, and a substrate plate. The particle, initially adhering to the probe tip, is detached and deposited onto the substrate by rapid change of the probe–substrate voltage designed on the basis of calculation by a boundary element method. The feasibility is experimentally shown; furthermore, the method of modifying the voltage sequence to improve the rate of success by considering the finite slew rate of the power source is discussed. A correction was made to this article (in the introduction) on 18 September 2008. The corrected electronic version is identical to the print version. (note)