PL112 – PL140

Amplifiers, Drivers &Controllers

PICMA

Multilayer Piezo Bender Actuators (LVPZT)

PI offers a wide range of stand-ard amplifiers and controllers for piezo actuators. The E-650.00 and E-650.OE driverswere specifically designed to operate PICMA
Bender actuators with optional wire leads (order number extension .x1); microprocessor for size comparison. ® Bender actuators aresuperior to conventional actua-tors in high-endurance situa- tions. They show substantially longer lifetimes both in static and dynamic operation, even in harsh environments. Dif- fusion of water molecules intothe insulation layer is greatlyreduced by the use of cofired, outer ceramic encapsulation.The high Curie temperature of320 °C gives PICMA
® Bender actua-tors. For closed-loop position-ing applications, a variety of analog and digital controllers is available. Of course, PI also designs custom amplifiers and controllers. Ceramic Encapsulation Advantages Positioning Range up to 2 mm PICMA Fast Response (<10 msec)
® actuatorsa usable temperature rangeextending up to 150 °C, well above the 80 °C limit of con- ventional multilayer actuators. At the low end, operation down to a few Kelvin is possi-ble (with reduction in per-formance specifications). Nanometer-Range Resolution Low Operating Voltage Vacuum-Compatible Versions Available with Integrated Position sensor manufacturer Special OEM and Bench-Top Amplifiers/Drivers Available Optimum UHV Compatibility— No Outgassing PICMA
® -series multilayer ben-der piezo actuators provide a deflection of up to 2 mm, forces up to 2 N (200 grams) and response times in the mil- lisecond range. These multi-layer piezoelectric componentsare manufactured from ceram- ic layers of only about 50 µm thickness. They feature internal silver-palladium electrodes and ceramic insulation applied in a cofiring process. The ben- ders have two outer activeareas and one central electrodenetwork dividing the actuatorin two segments of equal capacitance, similar to a classi- cal parallel bimorph. The lack of polymer insulationand the high Curie temperature make for optimal ultra-high- vacuum compatibility (no out-gassing / high bakeout temper-atures, up to 150 °C).
® Bender piezo actuatorsoffer several advantages overclassic bimorph componentsmanufactured by gluing together two ceramic plates (0.1 to 1 mm thick): faster response time and higher stiff- ness. The main advantage,however, is the drasticallyreduced (by a factor of 3 to 10) operating voltage of only 60 V. The reduced voltage allows smaller drive electronics and new applications, such as in medical equipment. Addition-ally, these devices offer im- proved humidity resistancedue to the ceramic encapsu- lation.
Application Examples

Wire bonding Pneumatic valves manufacturer Fiber optic switches Piezo Bender Piezo Transducer Piezoelectric transducer Beam deflection Micropositioning

Custom closed-loop bender actuator with strain gauge sensor applied for position measurement.

Acceleration sensors