Piezoelectric Motion, Sensing and Dispensing
Piezo mechanisms provide extremely fast, precise motion and can also be used for sensing, ultrasound generation, dispensing, energy harvesting and medical applications.
Piezoelectric transducers convert electrical energy directly into mechanical motion. In precision motion systems, this enables nanometer and sub-nanometer positioning, fast response, high force, compact designs and operation without conventional motors, gears or lubricants as is common with traditional motorized linear actuators.
PI and PI Ceramic manufacture piezoelectric mechatronic systems including piezo actuators, PZT transducers, piezo motors, nanopositioning stages and controllers for semiconductor, biotech, medical engineering, lasers, optics, microscopy, aerospace, precision machining, astronomy and microsystems technology.
PI also provides value-added manufacturing and custom assembly of piezoelectric devices for OEMs.
Piezo Mechanisms Catalog
Not all piezo actuators and motors are created equal. Different designs are optimized for high force, microsecond response, long travel, compact motion, high dynamics or incremental motion over millimeter-scale ranges. In general, piezo systems can be direct analog actuators, motion-amplified flexure actuators, or incremental piezo motors with long travel.
Piezo is derived from the Greek word piezein, meaning “to squeeze.” Piezoelectric actuators are used for positioning tasks that require very high accuracy, speed and resolution.
The push for higher accuracy and speed in biotechnology, nanotechnology, microelectronics, fiber optics and data storage continues to drive the development of piezo technology.
Piezo technology covers several actuator families. The right choice depends on whether the application requires maximum force, fastest response, long travel, compact self-locking motion, flexible sensing, or frictionless guided nanopositioning.
Planar AFM Piezo Scanners, Stages and Controllers
