ABSTRACT
166Nanorobotic nanomanipulation inside electron microscopes is presented in this chapter. We constructed an environmental scanning electron microscope (E-SEM) nanomanipulation system to observe and manipulate biological samples in nanoscale resolution with water-containing condition. The system can be used for various applications in the direct observation and manipulation of biological samples with nondrying, nondyeing, noncoating treatments, with a 7-degrees of freedom nanomanipulator with a sharp pyramidal end-effector and a cooling stage; that is, a temperature controller. We demonstrated in situ measurements of mechanical properties of individual W303 wild-type yeast cells using several types of nanoprobes. Compression experiments to penetrate the cell walls of single cells of different cell sizes (about 3–6 µm diameter) and growth phases (early log, mid-log, late log, and saturation) were conducted. The advantage of the integrated E-SEM nanomanipulation system relies on its capability to perform in situ local direct observation and manipulation of biological samples and its ability to control environmental conditions.
