Patent ID: 8922094

Claim:
A nanopositioning system for producing a coupling interaction between a first nanostructure and a second nanostructure, comprising: a first microelectromechanical system (MEMS) positioning assembly, the first MEMS positioning assembly including a first static comb drive actuator and a first dynamic comb drive actuator, the first static comb drive actuator configured to selectively displace the first dynamic comb drive actuator along a first axis in relation to the first static comb drive actuator upon application of a first voltage to the first static comb-drive actuator; a first restoring force element having a first end and a second end, the first end operatively connected to the first the dynamic comb drive actuator and the second end operatively connected to the first static comb drive actuator; a first positioning electrode configured to selectively displace the first dynamic comb drive actuator along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis, in relation to the first static comb drive actuator; and the first nanostructure operatively connected to the first dynamic comb drive actuator, a second MEMS positioning assembly, the second MEMS positioning assembly including a second static comb drive actuator and a second dynamic comb drive actuator, the second static comb drive actuator configured to selectively displace the second dynamic comb drive actuator along a third axis in relation to the second static comb drive actuator upon application of a second voltage to the second static comb-drive actuator; a second restoring force element having a first end and a second end, the first end operatively attached to the second dynamic comb drive actuator and the second end attached to the second static comb drive actuator; a second positioning electrode configured to selectively displace the second dynamic comb drive actuator along a fourth axis in relation to the second static comb drive actuator; and the second nanostructure operatively connected to the second dynamic comb drive actuator, the second nanostructure is selectively positionable along the third axis and along the fourth axis by operation of the second MEMS positioning assembly and the second positioning electrode to modulate the distance between the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure; wherein the first nanostructure is selectively positionable along the first axis and along the second axis by operation of the first MEMS positioning assembly and the first positioning electrode to modulate a distance between the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure to obtain a plasmon coupling interaction that alters at least one property of the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure.