Positioning Equipment

The L-408 linear stage strikes a good balance of load capacity, precision, and low cost. It has applications in research and industry including optics, bio-tech, and assembly of miniature components and photonics instrumentation.

The V-738 XY translation stage is designed to meet the highest positioning accuracy demands, for applications such as industrial automation, laser processing and flat panel display test and manufacturing. The mechanical design is based on a three piece arrangement for improved geometric performance. In contrast to XY-stage assemblies where two single axis translation stages are bolted together, the integrated, planar design of the V-738 provides better orthogonality (<100µrad) and straightness/flatness (2µm).

Piezo motors provide excellent dynamic properties, such as high acceleration and fast start/stop behavior, along with nanometer precision and stability. In contrast to traditional piezo mechanisms, like piezo stacks and piezo flexure stages, piezo motors are not limited to short travel ranges.

PI has added a high dynamics model to its range of compact hexapods. Designed for photonics alignment applications, the hexapod provides 6 degrees of freedom, actuator resolution of 5 nanometers and repeatability as good as 60 nanometers, while providing velocities to 20mm/sec. Sustaining loads to 5kg, the new H-811.F2 features a removable magnetic kinematic plate to accelerate workflow with different fiber optics components. Its compact size, large travel range of up to 34mm for linear motions and up to 42° for rotary motions, and a user programmable pivot point facilitate work with fiber optic and photonics components. 

The new reference-class linear stages family, L-417 and V-417, from precision nanopositioning global leader PI (Physik Instrumente), are available in ballscrew and linear motor configurations, both cost effective designs, offering high resolution with improved tracking performance, smaller tracking error, and improved settling time.  Applications for both include high demands on dynamics, precision, smooth scan motion, short settling times, and low tracking error, such as laser cutting, scanning, digital printing, electronics assembly and inspection, AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection), automation, and flat panel manufacturing.

Motion control and nano precision positioning systems leader PI (Physik Instrumente) released a new comprehensive catalog of linear and rotary positioning systems engineered and manufactured for industrial precision automation. The products covered in the catalog address industries such as semiconductor production/inspection, laser material processing, automated optical inspection (AOI), and precision opto-mechanical alignment and assembly. PI’s in-house designed and manufactured PIMag linear motor stages and PIglide air bearing technologies and high performance EtherCat®-based industrial precision motion controllers are some of the technologies featured in this catalog.

The new F-712.PM1 high speed optical power meter from precision photonics alignment manufacturer PI (Physik Instrumente) converts optical signals and currents of photodiodes into a high resolution, logarithmic analog voltage signal. Its high bandwidth of 20kHz enables faster optical alignment, when used in conjunction with PI’s high speed FMPA photonics alignment systems for SiP (Silicon Photonics) applications. The extended wavelength range of 400 to 1550nm allows working in both the visible and infrared range without switching.

The FMPA is a high-speed 12-axis automated silicon alignment system based on a highly specialized digital motion controller (E-712) and a hybrid alignment mechanism to achieve the required long travel ranges without sacrificing stability, resolution, or alignment speed. FMPA is implemented in the E-712’s modular firmware to enable fast, simultaneous alignment and tracking of multichannel couplings in multiple degrees of freedom.

This video features Dr. Markus Simon, head of the PI miCos beamline instrumentation group, who explains a special double hexapod PKM system used for synchrotron x-ray spectroscopy for material testing in fields such as semiconductor and medical applications.

PI provides a large variety of fast Z-Stages and collar piezo objective positioners for 3D imaging (Z-stack acquisition), deconvolution, and fast focusing applications. These Piezo nanopositioning stages & positioners are essential tools for high-resolution metrology and microscopy applications due to their sub-atomic resolution and extremely fast response times.

This video is an introduction of hexapod parallel kinematic 6-axis positioners, and a visual representation of key features of operation.

Opto Diode’s national sales manager Stan Duda kept us up to date on some new developments at Opto Diode. Watch the video to learn more about a new EUV compatible position sensing detector covering the 0.1 nm to 400 nm spectral range.

The PIMag 6D is a design concept for multi-axis nanopositioning applications where the highest precision is required, e.g. in semiconductor processing and inspection systems. This novel precision positioning system is based on magnetic levitation: The completely passive platform levitates on a magnetic field, which actively positions and also guides it. Objects can be moved linearly or rotationally on a plane with a unprecedented guiding accuracy.

Stefan Vorndran with PI (Physik Instrumente) gives us a rundown of their precision positioning technology capabilities at SPIE DSS 2013.