XYZ Nanopositioning Stage with Air Bearings – Compact 3-Axis Linear Stage with High Dynamics for 24/7 Automation
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Products - PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P.

XYZ Nanopositioning Stage with Air Bearings – Compact 3-Axis Linear Stage with High Dynamics for 24/7 Automation

PI’s compact XYZ Nanopositioning Stage with Air Bearings & Direct-Drive Motors Provides 10x10x10mm Travel, Nanometer Resolution, and is well suited for high duty cycle, 24/7 automation applications.

Video: An A-142-based, high-speed XYZ photonics alignment system, as shown at the 2023 Photonics West conference. The frictionless 3-axis air bearing stage is operated by an advanced ACS motion controller with on-board advanced search and alignment algorithms for fiber optics and similar applications.
XYZ nanopositioning stage – compact 3-axis high-dynamics motion system based on the A-142 air bearing linear slide. The Z-axis has an integrated counterbalance to offset the weight force of the moving table and load.
Video: XYZ-Nanopositioning Stage with air bearings for high-dynamics 24/7 high duty cycle applications in automation, manufacturing, test & metrology, scanning and alignment.  Air bearings do not generate particles and are compatible with clean room manufacturing.
The A-142 single-axis air bearing linear slide is the basis for the XYZ nanopositioning stages. This miniature linear nanopositioning stage boasts a number of highly competitive specifications: 10mm travel range, 3kg load capacity, 450 mm/sec max velocity, and up to 2g acceleration. It features an integrated frictionless, direct-drive voice-coil linear motor and a linear encoder.

San Francisco, CA -- PI first introduced a compact XYZ Nanopositioning Stage, based on air bearing guide technology and voice-coil, direct-drive linear motors, at the 2022 Photonics West conference. One year later, a high-speed photonics alignment system, using the same mechanics plus advanced alignment algorithms running on an ACS controller, was presented.

The compact 3-axis nanopositioning stage is based on PI’s A-142, miniature air bearing slide and suited for high precision, high-dynamics positioning, scanning and alignment applications in fields such as optics, photonics, semiconductors, etc. 

Based on a frictionless, wear-free precision motion system with high dynamics, this multi-axis linear translation stage excels with 10mm XYZ travel and a small footprint of only 80x90mm. The Z-axis has an integrated counterbalance to compensate for gravitation forces and maximize the dynamics and performance of the Z-axis motor. The XYZ nanopositioning stage has integrated linear encoders with 5nm resolution.

PI provides a large  number of motorized XYZ precision positioning stages with many motor and drive options for industrial automation and research applications.  For the highest precision and performance, with shorter travel ranges, piezoelectric, closed-loop, flexure guided 3-Axis nanopositioning stages are recommended.

PI Fast Photonics Alignment Solutions Running on ACS Motion Controllers

A-142 PIglide Voice Coil Linear Stage with Air Bearings

High performance; Possible vertical mounting; Motion platform 75mm × 80mm; Travel ranges up to 10mm; Acceleration up to 20 m/s

The Effect of Precision Alignment and Laser-Interferometer Error Mapping on the Performance of XYZ Linear Translation Stages for in Industrial Automation, Test, and Metrology

Air Bearings / Stages

Air bearings provide advantages over mechanical bearings when vibration-free motion is required, highly constant velocity control is crucial, and when angular repeatability and geometric performance must be optimal.

XYZ / XY-Theta Stages

Several types of multi-axis stage combinations, including gantries and granite-based motion systems

XYZ Piezo Flexure Stages

Largest selection of integrated XYZ piezo flexure stages with nanometer precision.

Nanopositioning Tutorial

There are several ways to achieve nanometer precision motion. The best positioning systems avoid friction all together, in both the drive system (motor) and in the guiding system (bearings). Frictionless bearings also avoid the bearing rumble caused by balls and rollers and provide vibration-free motion with highly constant velocity.

Photonics Alignment Systems

PI's award-winning architecture addresses test and assembly challenges by combining select motion technologies with unique controller algorithms to align across device channels, components and degrees of freedom in one step, typically 100 times faster than legacy approaches.

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