Patent ID: 7339383
Filing Date: 2008-03-04
Classification: G01B

Abstract:
1. A nanogripper device having a length measuring function, comprising: a pair of arms that is opened and closed freely; an electrostatic actuator that drives the pair of arms to open/close the arms; a first physical quantity detection unit that detects an electrostatic capacity as a first physical quantity, the electrostatic capacity being correlated to a distance between the pair of arms, a second physical quantity detection unit that detects a voltage applied to the electrostatic actuator as a second physical quantity, a hold detection unit that detects that a sample has become gripped by detecting an inflection point of a curve which indicates a relation between the detected electrostatic capacity and the detected voltage applied to the electrostatic actuator, and a dimension calculation unit that calculates a dimension of the sample based upon one of the first and second physical quantities detected by the first and second physical quantity detection units when the hold detection unit detects that the sample has become gripped.