Surface modification tools in a virtual environment interface to a scanning probe microscope

Abstract

The NanoManipulator system has been expanded from a virtual-reality interface for a specific scanning tunneling microscope to include control of atomic force microscopes. The current state of the system is reviewed, and new tools extending the user's feel and control in manipulation and fabrication in the mesoscopic regime are detailed. Manipulations that could not be performed using the techniques available from commercial SPM systems are demonstrated, and the direction of ongoing research is outlined.