Powder particle manipulation and assemblage using microprobe

Powder particle manipulation and welding techniques using a microprobe have been developed for use of microassembling. These techniques were applied to fabrication of microstructures by assembling powder particles. For the microprobe, a needle with a tip of 2 mu m in diameter was prepared. Au and Ni alloy powder particles of about 60-100 mu m diameter were used for the manipulation and welding experiments. The experiments showed that Au powder particles can be easily picked up, moved to a predetermined point and deposited at the point by controlling the voltage between the W microprobe and the substrate. Furthermore, the powder particle can be welded into the substrate or other powder particles on the substrate by glow discharge between the tip of the probe and the substrate. By utilization of the powder particle manipulation and welding, microstructures composed of Au and Ni alloy powder particles were fabricated. It was demonstrated that the microprobe technique is very useful for the fabrication of micromachines and microdevices. Also, the technique is thought to be useful for the creation of intelligent materials.