Control of Distributed Nanosteppers

该奖项的研究目标是开发具有交错步进方案的纳米步进器中的分布式致动器，以及时连续保持力控制。 目前，力控制的损失限制了这种纳米步进器在精确轨迹跟踪应用中的使用。该研究将解决以下与控制相关的挑战：（i）管理每个纳米步进器中的作用力，而不会因致动器动力学而引起不必要的振动;以及（ii）设计致动器招募（即，在不同时刻的活动纳米步进器的数量）。分析方法将被开发，以调查招聘程序的稳定性和性能的闭环系统与分布式纳米步进的效果。此外，拟议的工作将设计和建立一个概念验证的分布式纳米步进，理论发展将通过实验验证。如果成功，这项研究的结果将提高用于纳米科学和纳米技术研究和开发的纳米定位器的性能。示例应用包括：扫描探针显微镜（SPM）中的探针定位以及光电子行业中光学元件的对准。拟议的工作将提供研究培训和教育的本科生和研究生在纳米技术。建议的研究将被引入到本科课程，通过机电一体化设计项目在高级顶点设计类。此外，由此产生的本科生项目将用于每年高中学生开放日的外联/招聘活动。此外，将通过研讨会、出版物和会议传播研究成果。因此，拟议的工作将建立研究和人力资源基础设施，以保持在高科技和新兴纳米技术行业的竞争力。

The research objective of this award is to develop distributed actuators in nanosteppers with staggered stepping schemes to maintain force control continuously in time. Currently, the loss of force control limits the use of such nano-steppers in precision trajectory tracking applications. The research will solve the following controls-related challenges: (i) manage the applied force in each nanostepper without inducing unwanted vibrations due to actuator dynamics; and (ii) design the actuator recruitment (i.e., the number of active nanosteppers at different time instants) based on the required force level. Analysis methods will be developed to investigate the effect of the recruitment procedures on the stability and performance of closed-loop systems with the distributed nanostepper. Additionally, the proposed work will design and build a proof-of-concept distributed nanostepper, and the theoretical developments will be verified experimentally. If successful, the results of this research will improve the performance of nanopositioners used in research and development of nanosciences and nanotechnologies. Example applications include: probe positioning in scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and alignment of optical components in the opto-electronics industry. The proposed work will provide research-training and education to undergraduate and graduate students in nanotechnology. The proposed research will be introduced into undergraduate curriculum through mechatronics design projects in a senior-level capstone design class. Moreover, the resulting undergraduate projects will be used in outreach/recruitment activities in annual open houses for high-school students. Additionally, the research efforts will be disseminated through seminars, publications, and conferences. Thus, the proposed work will build the research and human resource infrastructure needed to remain competitive in high-tech and emerging-nanotechnology industries.