Active load cell with positive, negative and zero stiffness operating modes for micronewton range contact force monitoring in electrical probing

This article describes a novel method for applying a contact force in the range of 1 to 100 μN with pointed probe on a microscale sample in order to perform ohmic electrical measurements. The solution is based on the new TIVOT active load cell combining the functions of a force sensor and an actuator. Probe movement is performed by a piezo actuator which allows the probe tip to be moved over a 5.64 mm range with submicrometric precision. Force measurement is enabled by measuring the elastic deformation of a compliant structure with adjustable stiffness. Strategies are presented to remotely adjust the sensitivity of the mechanism leading to resolutions from 12 μN to 10 nN for forces ranges from 0-60 mN to 0-1 mN respectively. The piezo-actuated stiffness adjustment enables the mechanism to operate in a bistable mode with a tunable maximal threshold force, thus protecting the probe and sample from overloads. Zero offset tuning, in combination with the non-linear characteristic of the mechanism, allows reaching a quasi-constant force characteristic after landing the probe which helps maintaining a stable electrical contact during measurement. Experimental results show that this approach secures and improves probe to sample contact force leading to more efficient measurements than with the traditional methods.

Quantum optomechanics at room temperature

Hendrik Schütz

Why are classical theories often sufficient to describe the physics of our world even though everything around us is entirely composed of microscopic quantum systems? The boundary between these two fundamentally dissimilar theories remains an unsolved problem in modern physics. Position measurements of small objects allow us to probe the area where the classical approximation breaks down. In quantum mechanics, Heisenbergâs uncertainty principle dictates that any measurement of the position must be accompanied by measurement induced back-action---in this case manifested as an uncertainty in the momentum. In recent years, cavity optomechanics has become a powerful tool to perform precise position measurements and investigate their fundamental limitations. The utilization of optical micro-cavities greatly enhances the interaction between light and state-of-the-art nanomechanical oscillators. Therefore, quantum mechanical phenomena have been successfully observed in systems far beyond the microscopic world. In such a cavity optomechanical system, the fluctuations in the position of the oscillator are transduced onto the phase of the light, while fluctuations in the amplitude of the light disturb the momentum of the oscillator during the measurement. As a consequence, correlations are established between the amplitude and phase quadrature of the probe light. However, so far, observation of quantum effects has been limited exclusively to cryogenic experiments, and access to the quantum regime at room temperature has remained an elusive goal because the overwhelming amount of thermal motion masks the weak quantum effects. This thesis describes the engineering of a high-performance cavity optomechanical device and presents experimental results showing, for the first time, the broadband effects of quantum back-action at room temperature. The device strongly couples mechanical and optical modes of exceptionally high quality factors to provide a measurement sensitivity

\sim\!10^4

times below the requirement to resolve the zero-point fluctuations of the mechanical oscillator. The quantum back-action is then observed through the correlations created between the probe light and the motion of the nanomechanical oscillator. A so-called âvariational measurementâ, which detects the transmitted light in a homodyne detector tuned close to the amplitude quadrature, resolves the quantum noise due to these correlations at the level of 10% of the thermal noise over more than an octave of Fourier frequencies around mechanical resonance. Moreover, building on this result, an additional experiment demonstrates the ability to achieve quantum enhanced metrology. In this case, the generated quantum correlations are used to cancel quantum noise in the measurement record, which then leads to an improved relative signal-to-noise ratio in measurements of an external force. In conclusion, the successful observation of broadband quantum behavior on a macroscopic object at room temperature is an important milestone in the field of cavity optomechanics. Specifically, this result heralds the rise of optomechanical systems as a platform for quantum physics at room temperature and shows promise for generation of ponderomotive squeezing in room-temperature interferometers.

EPFL2017

Fundamental Applications of Nanopores: Controlled DNA Translocations to Nanofluidics

Sebastian James Davis

Nanopores are nanometer sized openings that are the connection between two electrolyte filled reservoirs. The measurement of the ion transport flowing through such a pore allows to probe physically or biologically interesting phenomena. These range from the passage of biological molecules, to the modulation of current due to multiple physical effects when the nanopore undergoes mechanical strain or pressure induced flow. Many types of nanopores exist: biological protein pores engineered to be able to sequence DNA, glass nanocapillaries easily interfaced with optical tools, or silicon nitride membrane pores which are a standard tool of recent nanotechnology. This thesis is split into two parts. The first focuses on the use of glass nanocapillaries which allow the facile combination of nanopore experiments with optical tweezers. Optical tweezers are a well established single molecule tool that allow precise force measurement on biologically relevant scales. They are used here for the control of DNA passing through the nanopore. Their ability to measure small scale forces allows the detailed investigation of DNA binding proteins, and attempts to measure the force of DNA passage through biological pores. Extensions of these experiments to the elastic behaviour of DNA during its passage through a nanopore reveal the effects of flow generated by the charged surface of nanopores themselves. This motivates attempts to control such flows as well as the second part of the thesis. The second part of the thesis focuses on nanofluidics, the role of fluid flow and ion transport at the nanoscale. Using a setup combining pressure with nanopores it is possible to probe, via precise measurements of the conduction of the nanopore, the wetting state of the pore. Contamination phenomena are shown to be abundant with such small systems and a description of their effects on standard measurements such as direct current current-voltage curves is given. Following this, pressure is applied to perfectly filled pores and, thanks to a new alternating current detection method, is shown to be able to discern the effect of pressure induced strain at the pore as well as the coupling of hydraulic flow with electrical properties of the pore. Finally, extensions beyond aqueous solvents are explored in both nanocapillaries and silicon nitride pores. For this, room-temperature ionic liquids are used. These liquids are known from previous studies to behave differently at surfaces and in nano-confinement. The nanopore system both with and without added pressure is shown to be a good tool for investigating such phenomena.

EPFL2020

Load cell with positive, negative and zero stiffness operating modes for milli- to nanonewton contact force monitoring in electrical probing

Michal Stanislaw Smreczak

Monolithic integrated circuits (ICs) have been miniaturized over the past five decades, and today their components range in size from hundreds of microns to several nanometers. Making point contact with electrical samples under a microscope is referred to as microprobing or nanoprobing and is carried out using micromanipulators equipped with sharply-ended probe needles. Probe landing on the sample is a critical step in this process since physical contact with the sample can damage the probe tip or the sample itself. Hence, this research was motivated primarily by the desire to find a novel method of monitoring and controlling physical contact between probe tip and sample, increasing its reliability in micro- and nanoprobing.Micro- and nanoprobing often involve qualified operators using microscope visual feedback to land the probe. This method, however, has several limitations, including a constrained field of view and no qualitative contact assessment. A more versatile solution is to measure the contact force between the probe tip and the sample since it does not rely on microscope images and provides an additional feedback channel that complements visual-servoing and facilitates micromanipulation. This work reviews a number of known methods of measuring force on a small scale, but none fully meets the needs of micro- and nanoprobing. The main challenges of these applications include, among others, measuring forces in the nanonewton to millinewton range, using different probe tips based on the type of sample, controlling contact force to obtain stable reliable conditions for electrical measurement, and protecting the probing system against excessive pressure exerted by the probe tip.The core objective of the thesis is to find a method for measuring and controlling the contact force between a probe tip and a sample that addresses the micro- and nanoprobing requirements. The proposed concept is based on a compliant mechanism that transduces the contact force applied to the probe tip into an output displacement. Through stiffness adjustment, the mechanism is capable of handling a wide range of forces that occur during micro- and nanoprobing. As a result of stiffness adjustment, the load cell can be designed at mescoscale, which provides high stiffness in transverse directions, and facilitates the interchangeability of probe tips. Using different probe tips necessitates analyzing gravity effects on the operation of the load cell and compensating for zero offset. Additionally, the study examines active force control implemented through stiffness and offset force adjustment, which provides a constant-force characteristic, bi-stable mode with overload protection, and allows fine probe tip positioning.Several polymer demonstrators and metal prototypes were fabricated as part of the work, allowing the experimental validation of subsequent stages. The performance of these mechanisms was compared with that of the analytical models and the finite element analysis developed within the research. The obtained results demonstrate the successful fulfillment of the requirements, including the ability to measure static contact forces over 60 mN with a resolution of 10nN (dynamic range of 6x10^6). A wide range of stiffness and offset force adjustments enable probe tip positioning with a resolution of 12 nm over a range of 5.64 mm. Finally, the new load cell was used for microprobing on a sample of micropillars to validate its different operating modes.

EPFL2022