Horizontal two-dimensional nano-positioner based on shear plate piezoelectric actuators

In this paper, a novel X-Y nano-positioner that is driven by the shear plate piezoelectric actuators is proposed based on inertial sliding theory. The nano-positioner can output two-dimensional motion at a speed of 0.3mm/s within an area of 5mm × 5mm on a float glass plate, whose theoretical resolution can be indefinitely high, which depends on the driving pulses of the piezoelectric actuators. Different pulses applied to the shear piezoelectric actuators can be achieved by a computer controlled amplifier system. The performance of the nano-positioner actuated by different driving pulses is also analyzed and discussed, e.g. the resolution and the speed. Generally, the motion step will be longer when the actuator provides a higher speed at the end of the sticking mode, i.e., it trades off the speed against the resolution. Finally, a prototype system of the nano-positioner has been developed by using a CCD camera as the observing device, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.