Piezo actuators: positioning to sub-micron levels
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Lambda Photometrics product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 3, 2000
Piezo actuators are being used in areas such as semiconductor manufacture and test, fibre optic component manufacture, micro valve development and active vibration cancellation.
In many industrial applications demand is growing for precision actuators capable of providing control down to the sub micron level.
Piezo actuators are meeting this demand, particularly in areas such as semiconductor manufacture and test, fibre optic component manufacture, micro valve development and active vibration cancellation.
A piezo actuator consists of a stack of polarised lead zirconate titanate ceramic discs electrically connected in parallel (figures 1 and 2).
As a voltage is applied across each disc the ceramic expands in the direction of polarisation.
The amount of expansion is highly controllable, being determined by the strength of the applied field.
Step resolution, which can be as low as one nanometer, is only limited by the output noise of the drive amplifier.
Travel range is limited to a few hundred microns, but dynamic operation can be as high as several kilohertz..
The solid state ceramic nature of these actuators means that very high compressive forces can be applied.
Indeed devices that can actuate a load of more than 2500Kg are available as standard products.
During actuation there is no wear within the ceramic; lifetimes in excess of 3 billion cycles are therefore possible.
Electrically a piezo actuator is like a capacitor.
As current is only drawn as the piezo expands power consumption for devices operating in quasi static applications is low and self heating affects are negligible.
The electrical properties of a piezo is one reason why it is seen as a favourable alternative to a solenoid.
Physik Instrumente GmbH (PI) are the worlds largest manufacturer of piezo actuation and positioning products.
Products include piezo driven flexure stages with one nanometer closed loop resolution and one nanometer guiding accuracy.
Typically used for semiconductor wafer lithography and testing such equipment is at the forefront of the drive towards more powerful and faster computer technology.
Detailed information on the PI product range can be found at www.physikinstrumente.com or alternatively Lambda Photometrics, as PI's UK representative, can provide the full product catalogue along with comprehensive technical support.
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