PI extends its large offering of nanometre precise, fast focusing stages with the addition of its new V-308 nanopositioning slide for vertical applications providing 7mm of Z-travel and 10nm incremental motion – ideal for OEM and research applications in the life science, semiconductor, and material science fields.
At the core of the V-308 nanofocus system is a single axis slide guided laterally by high-precision crossed roller bearings. The slide is driven by a centrally mounted linear voice-coil motor, specifically developed by PI for high dynamics, fast settling, and high resolution. Acceleration to 0.8g and velocity to 8 inch/sec are feasible, while extremely short step-and-settle times <15msec (step size to 1/4µm) within an error band of ±15nm can be achieved.
The closed-loop linear slide integrates PI’s PIOne ultra-high resolution optical incremental encoder, providing sub-nanometre resolution feedback, based on an interferometric-type read head. When operated with a PI motion controller, the low friction V-308 linear slide can perform repeatable minimum incremental motion steps of 10 nanometers (see graph) and bidirectional repeatability of 25nm.