Piezosystem Jena is one of the world leading companies in the development and manufacturing of nanopositioning systems based on piezo electrical actuators. Both the positioning stages and the controlling electronics are designed in-house. Extremely high positioning accuracy can be achieved with sub-nanometer resolution over a travel of a few millimeters.
Piezo actuators and positioning stages are unique in the way that they allow precise nanometer range movement. They can also generate forces of several thousands of Newtons and make accurate positioning in microseconds.
Several ways of designing a positioning stage are possible, depending on the type of motion. The very basic element is a piezo electric ceramic crystal that expands or contacts depending on the electrical voltage applied across it. A stack of piezocrystals makes a basic actuator with a direct motion corresponding to the expansion of the crystal. By connecting such a stack to a stage with flexure hinges, working like a gearbox, large increases in travel distance can be made.
The robustness of a piezostage is also excellent. Carefully designing all bending parts inside the breakage point makes the stages free of wear and tear. The piezoceramic material itself is also completely without degradation over time.
The standard range of products from Piezosystem Jena includes stack type actuators, x-stages, z-stages, xy-stages, xyz-positioners, 5-axis positioners, mirror tilters, shutter/slit systems, rotary stages and microscope xy-stages.