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Microscopy Profits from PI's Piezo Technology

PInano™ Scanning Stages for the Highly Accurate Positioning of Samples

The PInano™ system from Physik Instrumente (PI) has been designed for the positioning of samples in high-resolution optical microscopy. The P-545 core component of the PInano™ is an XY or XYZ piezo-driven scanning and positioning stage with a 20 mm height and a large central aperture for transmitted-light microscopy. The large clear aperture accomodates holders for Petri dishes or standard object slides of 25 x 75 mm in size. A holder for additional accessories is also available. The piezo stage provides travel ranges of up to 200 µm in two or three axes and reaches a position resolution in the nanometer range. The integrated piezoceramic PICMA® actuators offer maximum reliability and a proven superior lifetime.

It also has its own matched piezo controller with 24-bit USB, Ethernet and RS-232 interfaces and one analog interface. An extensive software package supports, among others, LabVIEW and Linux. Important for scanning applications are the integrated data recorder, which collects motion parameters as well as system parameters, and the wave generator, which controls the motion of the stage with diverse curves and functions. In addition, the software supports a series of common image acquisition systems, such as µManager and Metamorph.

To move the sample along larger travel ranges, the M-545 manual XY microscopy stage can be used to complement the P-545. The XY stage directly fits all common inverse light microscopes and carries the piezo stage. The M-545 XY stage can be equipped additionally with stepper motor drives.

Would you like to know more about PI's NanoStages. Please contact Jeroen van de Velde or Dick Moerman