Augmented reality enhanced "top-down" nano-manufacturing

Assembly of nano-structures involves manipulation of nanoparticles, nano-rods, nanowires and nanotubes. Modelling the behavior of a nano-rod or a nanotube pushed by an AFM tip is much more complex than that of a nano-particle because in the case of the nano-particle usually only translation occurs while for the nano-rod and nanotube both translational and rotational motion occurs during manipulation. In this paper, the behavior of nano-rods under pushing is theoretically analyzed and the real-time interactive forces are used to update the AFM image. The real-time visual display combined with the real-time force feedback provides an augmented reality environment in which the operator not only can feel the interaction forces but can also observe the real-time changes of the nano-environment. The new developed augmented reality system capable of manipulating not only nanoparticles but also nano-rods makes nano-assembly using AFM based nanomanipulation system feasible and applicable.