A novel piezoelectrically actuated 2-DoF compliant micro/nano-positioning stage with multi-level amplification

This article presents a novel two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DoF) piezo-actuated parallel-kinematic micro/nano-positioning stage with multi-level amplification. Themirror symmetric stage consists of four leverage mechanisms, two Scott-Russell mechanisms, and a Z-shaped flexure hinge (ZFH) mechanism. Taking advantage of the ZFH mechanism, 2-DoFmotions with final-level flexural amplification and decoupledmotion guidance are achieved. Analytical models of the stage are developed and validated throughfinite element analysis to characterize its working performance. Practical testing of a prototype stage is conducted to demonstrate the design process and to quantify its response characteristics. Due to the utilized multi-level amplification, a practical amplification ratio of 13.0 is realized by the prototype. The decoupled outputmotion guidance feature of the stage makes it amenable for implementation in raster scanning type of measurements.
Source: Review of Scientific Instruments - Category: Physics Authors: Source Type: research