Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a type of scanning probe microscopy that can analyze topographic details of various specimens like ceramics, glass, polymers, and biological samples. AFM offers over 1000 times more resolution than the optical imaging system. Images generated from AFM are three-dimensional surface profiles, offering an advantage over the flat, two-dimensional images from other imaging techniques.
The AFM Probe
The probe is regarded as the heart of any AFM setup and comprises the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Laser-Guided Self-Rolled Magnetic Microrobots for Targeted Biofilm Eradication in Severely Infected Medical Stents.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026

Same author

Printable Core-Shell Multifunctional Particle for Light-Enhanced Nanomolar-Level Testosterone Point-of-Care Monitoring.

ACS sensors·2026

Same author

Combinatorial optimization enhanced by shallow quantum circuits with 104 superconducting qubits.

National science review·2026

Same author

Advanced Sensors for Intelligent Robotic Systems: Vision, Touch, and Dexterous Manipulation.

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

Photosynthetic Characteristics of Poplar-Soybean Intercropping Systems in Response to Phenolic Acid Stress.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

Macrophage autophagy-dependent M2 polarization mediates the protective effect of ADSC-conditioned medium against acute lung injury.

Stem cell research & therapy·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation

Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation

Published on: September 27, 2011

Movable surface acoustic wave tweezers: a versatile toolbox for micromanipulation.

Xianming Qin¹, Xianglian Liu², Shuo Liu²

¹School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi'an, 710071, China.

Microsystems & Nanoengineering

|October 29, 2024

Summary

Movable surface acoustic wave (SAW) tweezers offer enhanced control over microscale targets. This innovation enables dynamic manipulation of acoustic traps for versatile applications in micromanipulation and biomedical microrobotics.

More Related Videos

Microparticle Manipulation by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves with Dual-frequency Excitations

Microparticle Manipulation by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves with Dual-frequency Excitations

Published on: August 21, 2018

Use of Dual Optical Tweezers and Microfluidics for Single-Molecule Studies

Use of Dual Optical Tweezers and Microfluidics for Single-Molecule Studies

Published on: November 18, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation

Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation

Published on: September 27, 2011

Microparticle Manipulation by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves with Dual-frequency Excitations

Microparticle Manipulation by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves with Dual-frequency Excitations

Published on: August 21, 2018

Use of Dual Optical Tweezers and Microfluidics for Single-Molecule Studies

Use of Dual Optical Tweezers and Microfluidics for Single-Molecule Studies

Published on: November 18, 2022

Area of Science:

Acoustic manipulation
Microrobotics
Biomedical engineering

Background:

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) tweezers are a key micromanipulation technology using patterned acoustic fields.
Existing SAW tweezers have limitations in trap position and motion control due to fixed acoustic fields and reliance on signal modulation.
Challenges include restricted degrees of freedom and working range in current SAW tweezer designs.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop movable SAW tweezers with dynamic control over acoustic trap positions.
To overcome the limitations of fixed acoustic fields in conventional SAW tweezers.
To enable versatile and precise manipulation of diverse microscale targets.

Main Methods:

Proposed a novel multilayer structure for movable SAW tweezers.
Achieved dynamic control of the acoustic wave field and trap positions.
Demonstrated manipulation capabilities including translation, rotation, and cluster formation.

Main Results:

Successfully demonstrated precise manipulation of various microscale samples: particles, bubbles, droplets, cells, and microorganisms.
Showcased advanced functions like in-plane and out-of-plane rotation, and controlled cluster formation.
Validated the enhanced degree of freedom and expanded working range of the movable SAW tweezers.

Conclusions:

Movable SAW tweezers offer improved flexibility, versatility, and biocompatibility for microtarget manipulation.
The technology provides precise and selective control via localized wavefields and microtools.
This movable SAW tweezer platform holds significant potential for biomedical microrobotics and arbitrary microscale manipulation.