PI’s XYZ Piezo-Driven Nanopositioner Enables BPL Desktop Nanoprinter

A Compact 3-Axis piezo nanopositioning stage provides new precision and speed for an award-winning desktop nanoprinter by TERA-print to find applications in photonics, meta-materials, electronics, soft robotics, and biomedicine.

Based on a flexure-guided design, PI's P-611 piezo nanopositioning stage combines high precision and dynamics in a compact package. Also known as the NanoCube®, this closed-loop stage delivers 120µm travel range in 3 degrees of freedom - ideal applications such as photonics alignment and Beam Pen Lithography (BPL). One of the advantages of BPL is its flexibility to create arbitrary, programmable patterns, independent of fixed photomasks with no need to create a new master for each variation. This maskless technique saves both time and cost, making it ideal for prototyping.


PI's closed-loop piezo system handles the motion part in the TERA-print TERA-Fab™ E series platform. The piezo XYZ stage precisely moves the substrate under the beam pen array between light exposures and enables rapid reconstruction of an arbitrary, high-resolution pattern - up to 100,000s of sub-250nm pixels at a time. The nanopositioning mechanism is actuated by special multilayer piezo stacks whose ceramic encapsulation provides protection against humidity and moisture, important in bio-chemical applications.

Long-Life Piezo Actuators, Good Enough for NASA
The XYZ piezo stage is driven by ceramic-encapsulated preloaded and flexure motion-amplified PICMA® piezo actuators that provide better performance and reliability than conventionally insulated piezo actuators. Actuators, guidance, and sensors are maintenance-free, not subject to wear, humidity and moisture tolerant, and offer extraordinary lifetime and cost-effectiveness. In reliability tests carried out by NASA/JPL for the Mars Mission, the actuators survived 100 billion cycles without failures.

Working with You
PI's in-house engineered components have enabled customers around the world to increase their productivity and technological advantage for 5 decades. With a large basis of standard piezo components and materials as well as precision motion products, PI is in the position to quickly modify existing designs or provide a fully customized OEM solution to fit the exact requirements of your application from sensors and transducers to microscope auto-focus units, fast positioning stages to multi-axis automation systems.

USA / Canada
http://www.pi-usa.us | info@pi-usa.us |(508) 832-3456

About PI
PI is a privately held company that designs and manufactures world-class precision motion and automation systems including air bearings, hexapods and piezo drives at locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded 5 decades ago and today employs more than 1300 people worldwide. PI's customers are leaders in high-tech industries and research institutes in fields such as photonics, life-sciences, semiconductors, and aerospace.

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