By combining a high speed DC-motor with a piezo-driven rotary motor on a backlash-free ball screw, Feinmess Dresden has developed a linear stage with a very wide speed range, high positional accuracy and low settling time.
The new Dual-Speed-Mode stage, available in the UK from Armstrong Optical, is offered with travel of 50mm, 100mm, 200mm and 300mm and movement speeds from 1μm/s to 60mm/s; with an option to 120mm/s. Positional feedback and high-speed stability is derived from a built-in linear encoder, offering 5nm resolution, and a rotary encoder on the piezo-drive.
The Dual-Speed-Mode stage offers up many possibilities in manufacturing in microelectronics and semiconductor fabrication as well as opening up new research areas in confocal microscopy and enhancements to more conventional measurement techniques.