Faster Active Alignment with NanoCube XYZ Piezo Flexure Scanning Stage

(Nanowerk News) Based on a parallel-kinematic design, with only one lightweight moving platform for all 3 axes, PI’s P-616 is available with high precision and dynamics in a compact package. Also known as the NanoCube®, it is the smallest and lightest system with capacitive feedback delivering 100µm travel range in 3 degrees of freedom.
P-616 3-Axis Compact Piezo Flexure Nano-Positioner
P-616 3-Axis Compact Piezo Flexure Nano-Positioner. (Image: PI) (click on image to enlarge)

Extended Travel to 1” – Combinations for Coarse/Fine Alignment

The piezo scanner can be combined with compact motorized micro-positioning stages, such as PI’s L-505 miniature stage, to achieve long travel ranges up to 1” in a very small package.

Digital Controller for Higher Speed, Improved Linearity

The P-616 is operated with PI’s E-727 digital servo piezo controller, which offers the advantage of higher linearity, faster settling and scanning speed, and easy access to all motion parameters, compared to conventional analog piezo controllers. An all-inclusive software package is included: drivers for LabVIEW, dynamic libraries for Windows and Linux, MATLAB. Interfaces consist of USB, SPI, RS-232, and analog. Supported functions include Wave generator, data recorder, auto zero, and trigger I/O.

Closed-Loop Operation with Linear Encoder Feedback

In addition to the entry level open-loop stepper motor variants, closed-loop models with integrated linear encoders are available. Linear encoders provide direct position measurement at the motion platform and provide better accuracy and repeatability compared to conventional motor shaft-mounted rotary encoders. Encoders with 50nm and 5nm resolution are offered.
Watch how quickly the NanoCube performs fiber alignment in this video

Long-Life Piezo Drives, Good Enough for NASA

The XYZ piezo stage is driven by ceramic-encapsulated preloaded and flexure motion-amplified PICMA® piezo actuators that provide better performance and reliability than conventionally insulated piezo actuators. Actuators, guidance, and sensors are maintenance-free, not subject to wear, and offer extraordinary lifetime and cost-effectiveness. In reliability tests carried out by NASA/JPL for the Mars Mission, the actuators survived 100 billion cycles without failures.
Read: Piezo Flexure Actuators, Nanopositioners, and Piezo Mechanisms
Specifications, Datasheet, More Information

Applications of the NanoCube

Fields of applications include photonics alignment, microscopy, 3D imaging, screening, surface analysis, and wafer inspection.

Standard and Custom

PI has in-house engineered solutions with over 4 decades of experience working with customers to provide products that meet application demands, and can quickly modify existing product designs or provide a fully customized OEM part to fit the exact requirements of the application.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of air bearing stages, piezoelectric solutions, precision motion control equipment, and hexapod parallel-kinematics for semiconductor applications, photonics, bio-nano-technology and medical engineering. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 4 decades. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. The PI group employs more than 1,300 people worldwide in 15 subsidiaries and R&D / engineering centers on 3 continents.
Source: PI (press release)
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