Development of a Compact XYZ Nanopositioner Supporting Optical Scanning

In this paper we consider the design, analysis and experimental validations of an XYZ PZT driven nano-positioning stage to support high precision optical scanning systems. The overall motion stage consists of a parallel XY-nanopositioner and a Z-axis nanopositioner mounted in series on the XY stage. To achieve fast and high precision motions with loads from the optical systems, a novel hollow structural design is proposed, where the flexure based mechanism is further optimized to increase the output displacement while ensuring a relatively high natural frequency. Then the static model of the stage is developed for the lever and guiding mechanisms and its accuracy is verified by FEA(Finite Element Analysis). The proposed 3-DOF(Degree of Freedom) nanopositioner is manufactured and experimentally investigated. Experimental tests show that the nanopositioner has natural frequencies of 855 Hz, 865 Hz and 1019 Hz for X, Y and Z axes, respectively. Meanwhile the maximum travel ranges of 71 μm, 71 μm and 52 μm are obtained along x, y and z directions, which demonstrate large strokes and relatively high natural frequencies for the 3-DOF optical nanopositioner.