Compact Planar XY Air Bearing Stage Provides Vibrationless High-Precision Motion, Introduced by PI

Nanopositioning specialist PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P., a leader and solution provider in motion control and positioning components and systems, recently released the new A-311 PIglide IS Series compact, planar air bearing stage, designed to deliver extremely precise and vibration-free motion. Planar scanning stages are ideal for wafer inspection, laser marking, optical metrology and other precision motion applications.

Air Bearings vs. Mechanical Bearings

Air bearings replace mechanical contact by a thin air film. The fully preloaded air bearings in the A-311 PIglide IS provide frictionless motion, resulting in negligible hysteresis or reversal error, and zero-wear of mechanical components. Due to the air bearing’s surface averaging effect, pitch/yaw/roll and straightness/flatness are significantly better than with conventional mechanical bearings, motion is vibration-free, and velocity can be controlled at very high constancy.

Planar Stages vs. Stacked XY Stages

The compact, single base plate design provides a lower profile compared to stacked XY stages and makes integration in tight spaces easy. In addition, error-causing bending moments introduced in stacked stages when the load on the top stage moves off-center are not an issue with planar stages. By eliminating the height and overhung loads of an XY stack design, the A-311 PIglide IS stage achieves 0.1 µm/inch straightness and flatness and roll/pitch/yaw errors of 1 to 2 arc-seconds.

Linear Motors and Encoders for High Speed and Acceleration

Smooth motion with no cogging or attractive forces is provided by ironless linear motors; position information down to 1nm resolution comes from integrated linear encoders. The powerful linear motors reach velocities up to 1m/sec and acceleration to 1g, a prerequisite for fast scanning and automation applications.

Features & Advantages

• Low profile, high precision
• Optical linear encoders to 1 nanometer
• Travels up to 200mm x 200mm
• Load to 15kg max
• Velocity to 1m/sec, Acceleration to 1g