Piezo

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Nano

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Positioning

Intro du ction

Nanopositioning with Piezoelectric Technology

Basics

Piezo Actuators

The piezoelectric effect is often en-countered in daily life, for exam- ple in lighters, loudspeakers and buzzers. In a gas lighter, pressureon a piezoceramic generates anelectric potential high enough to create a spark. Most electronic alarm industrial clocks do not use electro- magnetic buzzers anymore, because piezoelectric ceramics are more compact and more effi- cient. In addition to such simpleapplications, piezo technology hasrecently established itself in the automotive branch. Piezo-driven injection valves in industrial diesel engines require much lower transition times than conventional electro- magnetic valves, providing qui-eter operation and lower emis-sions.The term “piezo” is derived fromthe Greek word for pressure. In 1880 Jacques and Pierre Curie dis- covered that an electric potential could be generated by applying pressure to quarz industrial crystals; theynamed this phenomenon the“piezo effect”. Later they ascer- tained that when exposed to an electric potential, piezoelectric materials change shape. This they named the “inverse piezo effect”. The first commercial applicationsof the inverse piezo effect were forsonar systems that were used in World War I. A breakthrough was made in the 1940’s when scientists discovered that barium titanate could be bestowed with piezoelec-tric properties by exposing it to anelectric field. Piezoelectric materials are used toconvert electrical energy to mech-anical energy and vice-versa. Theprecise motion that results when an electric potential is applied to a piezoelectric material is of primor- dial importance for nanoposition- ing. Actuators using the piezo effect have been commerciallyavailable for 35 years and in thattime have transformed the world of precision positioning and motion control. Features of Piezoelectric actuators

Nanopositioning & Scanning Systems

Piezo actuators can perform sub-nanometer moves at high frequencies because they derive their motionfrom solid-state crystalineeffects. They have no rotat- ing or sliding parts to cause friction

Active Optics / Steering Mirrors Tutorial: Piezo- electrics in Positioning Capacitive Industrial position sensors Piezo Drivers & Nano- positioning controllers

Piezo actuators can move high loads, up to several tons

Hexapods / Micropositioning Photonics Alignment Solutions

Piezo actuators present capacitive loads and dissi- pate virtually no power in static operation

Industrial motion controllers Ceramic Linear motors & Stages

Piezo actuators require no maintenance and are not subject to wear because they have no moving parts in theclassical sense of the term

Index

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