Electromagnetic drive and active decoupling design of micro-positioning stage for micro-optical scanning

Micro-positioning stages, capable of fine orientation adjustment for manipulation of light paths, play an important role in micro-scanning imaging systems. However, conventional electromagnetic actuators and guide flexures are unsuitable for compact opto-electromechanical systems. In this paper, a novel micro-positioning stage driven by electromagnetic actuators with an active decoupling design is proposed. Actuators with moving permanent magnets have been designed and employed, providing high torque in 3 degrees of freedom in the working plane. Furthermore, the guide flexures, consisting of four C-shaped leaf flexure (CLF) modules, have been integrated into the micro-positioning stage with a 5 mm motion range, thus restricting the other degrees of freedom.