The Micro Production System developed by Klocke Nanotechnik and partners bridges the gap between nanotechnology and the classical mechanical engineering. It combines the advantages of both technologies: the backlash free movement with Nanometer resolution and the capability of up to kilograms of load at huge strokes. The included Nanorobotics modules offer plenty degrees of movement and a repeatability of better 60 nm per axis, a value far away from the Micrometer values of classical production systems.

Micro Production System with a 350x350 mm² base stage and less Nanorobotics

The Micro Production System is available in a lot of different levels of complexity. It was the main goal during the development of this system to allow for flexibility:

• Modular design, to be able to add, combine, or exchange components such as force sensors, wafer prober, manipulators, vacuum- and microgrippers or Scanning Probe Microscopes in order to produce different products, see on the right, at downloads: "Components".


• Ability to scale-up the production beginning from first manually assembled samples up to fully automated mass production.


• Integration of micro adhesive bonding technology in mechanics and software.


• Process control with an easy to use software.

An example shall detail the second option:
The first step to a product is a prototype that has to be assembled. Therefore our microassembly stages are the right start, e.g. with 4 Nanorobotics axes (X, Y, Z-stages plus microgripper) and a joystick. Then about 10-100 prototypes are necessary and some assembly steps should run automatically, e.g. by integrated position sensors and a small software packet. An adhesive dispenser may be added, perhaps also an electrical prober or a Nanofinger.
In the next step a first production series of 1000-5000 pieces needs more assistance and closed loop operation. Some video cameras and a vision system help to identify microparts, a base stage and rotary drives arrange these microparts for the gripper and a sequencer software allows to program complete assembly processes just by "drag and drop".
When prototypes turn into products quality control gets more important and the system can be expanded for example with Scanning Probe Microscopes, nano-indenters, surface inspection systems or wafer prober.
The compatible modules of the Nanorobotics series allows this scale-up from a single microgripper over small microassembly stages up to a Micro Production Systems with plenty of different configurations - always with nano-resolution. In the same way the Ethernet-based electronics and modular software can grow with the system. This modular design is described in the PDF file "Components of the Micro Production System" in the right box at "Downloads".

This concept is the result of the experience in our Microtechnology network and with a lot of companies who have to overcome the scale-up problem.

The Micro Production system is described in detail in the paper "Nanorobotics for Production Technology", see "Downloads". This paper also includes the demands in micro production technology and a comparison with standard production technology. Our Micro Production System is probably the most precise system available in the market.
The following lines will summarize some features to give a first impression. Please contact us when you like to have more information!

Components of the Micro Production System:

• High precision xy-stage [1], 350x350 mm² stroke from our partner LPKF, resolution better 200 nm.
• Nanorobotics modules [2], microgripper, Nanofinger, wafer prober, ...
• Two rotation stages [3] to change the orientation of the source and target area.
• Micro adhesive dispenser, Nanomanipulators, Scanning Probe Microscopes or e.g. a MicroProf^® from our partner FRT at position [4].
• Video cameras [5] with vision software for pattern recognition of not oriented microparts (orientation and quality control). Up to 6 cameras are included.
• Process control with graphical user interface. Complex production sequences can be realized by choosing sensors and actuators from menus.

The Micro Production System can be configured easily for different applications. Microparts can be assembled with a size of a few microns up to some centimeters.

Operation Modes:

• Manual mode with Joysticks.
• Half automatic usage: automatic functions combined with manual operation.
• Completely automatic process with absolute positioning.
• Closed loop process with vision control, e.g. for the microassembly of not oriented microparts.

Smaller Micro Production System with a 100x100 mm² base stage and less Nanorobotics