Piezo • Nano • Positioning PiezoWalk >
® Precision Drives –Millimeter Travel, Nanometer
Resolution, High Forces >
® principle: NEXLINE PiezoWalk >
® and NEXACT >
® . Bothprovide specific advantages
depending on the application.PiezoWalk >
® drives break awayfrom the limitations of conven-
tional Nanopositioning actua-tors. They offer a basicallyunlimited travel range andstillprovide the characteristic
features of a
piezoelectric actuator: an open-loop resolu-
tion down to 30 picometers and
a very high stiffness for dynam-
ic operation and force genera-tion. PI offers two product lines >
® piezo steppingdrives usually consist of sever-al individual piezo actuators
and generate motion through
succession of coordinated
clamp / unclamp and shear-
motion cycles (steps). Each
cycle provides only a fewmicrons of movement, but run-ning at hundreds of hertz, the
drive achieves continuous
motion in the mm/second
range. The PiezoWalk >
50 picometer steps with a NEXLINE ® drive, measured with external ultra-high-resolution capacitive sensor.Thisperformance provides a big safetymargin for next generation nano-
technology applications ® working princi-ple provides high force capabil-
ities, resolution and repeatabil-
ity. These properties are typi-cally better for piezo stepping
actuators compared to inertia
drives or ultrasonic motors.The operation is possible intwo different modes: a high-
resolution, high dynamics ana-
log mode within a single step,
and a step mode with virtually
unlimited travel range. >
Custom PiezoWalk ® linear actuator manufacturer Features and Advantages ofPiezoWalk >
® PiezoWalk >
® drives are availa-ble for non-magnetic appli-
cations such as super-con-
ductivity experiments. They
do not create magneticfields nor are they influen-ced by them. Drives Very high resolution, limitedtypically only by the sensor.
In fine-adjustment, analog
mode, resolution of 30 pico-
meters has been demonstra-ted. The active parts in
PiezoWalk >
® drives are madeof vacuum-compatible cera-
mics. The drives also work
in UV-light environments. High force generation andstiffness. NEXLINE >
® drivescan hold and generate for-
ces to 600 N, NEXACT >
6-axis parallel-kinematic nanopositioning system (Hexapod) with N-215 based NEXLINE ® high-load actuators for use in strong magnetic fields ® to15N. NEXLINE >
® drives can surviveshock loads of several g
during transportation. PiezoWalk >
® drives hold astable position to nanome-
ter level in power-off mode.
Due to the actuator design,
the maximum clampingforce is applied at rest. PiezoWalk >
® drives are available in three levels of integration to provide flexibility for OEMs: OEMdrives, packaged actuatorsand integrated into complex
positioning systems such as multi-axis
translation stages or 6-DOF
Hexapods. based on different versions of the PiezoWalk Because a position can beheld with zero operating vol-
tage, leakage currents can-
not affect the integrity of the
piezo drive. >
NEXLINE ® linear actuator principle 3