Challenge of three-dimensional operation of micro grippers utilizing molecular motor proteins as actuators

Abstract

In recent years, advances have been made in the fabrication of micro grippers for manipulating micro-objects, and research has also been conducted on selecting molecular artificial muscles as driving sources that can be easily integrated into complex microstructures. This study aims to take the first step towards extending the operation of micro grippers driven by molecular artificial muscles, which have previously been limited to planar motion, by prototyping and evaluating a micro gripper that operates in the z-axis direction. A new experimental setup was constructed to observe the movement of the micro gripper in the z-axis direction, and displacement by the molecular artificial muscles of the micro gripper fabricated using photolithography, one of the microfabrication techniques, was confirmed.