Biophysical applications ranging from fluorescence microassays to single-molecule microscopy are increasingly dependent on automated nanoscale positional control and stability. A whirlwind of motion-industry innovation has resulted in an array of new motion options offering significant improvements in application performance, reproducibility and throughput. The challenge to leverage these devel...

Both an accurate machine design and an adequate metrology loop definition are critical factors when precision positioning represents a key issue for the final system performance. This article discusses the error budget methodology as an advantageous technique to improve the measurement accuracy of a 2D-long range stage during its design phase. The nanopositioning platform NanoPla is here presen...

We present a design of a nanometrology measuring setup which is a part of the national standard instrumentation for nanometrology operated by the Czech Metrology Institute (CMI) in Brno, Czech Republic. The system employs a full six-axis interferometric position measurement of the sample holder consisting of six independent interferometers. Here we report on description of alignment issues and ...

Controlling the position of an actuator to within a single atom distance can be a daunting challenge. However, such demands are becoming routine in applications such as scanning probe microscopy [ 1], data storage [ 2], [3], and semiconductor manufacturin g [4]. Good mechanical design and sensor choice are important; however, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the noise pro...

Ferroelectric (e.g., PZT and PMN) and ferromaqnetic (e.g., Terfenol-D) materials exhibit high energy densities, broadband drive capabilities, and the capacity for both actuating and sensing. This makes them attractive as compact transducers for applications including nanopositioning systems such as atomic force microscopes (AFM), acoustic transducers, and drive mechanisms for high speed milling...

The quantum plasmonics field has emerged and been growing increasingly, including study of single emitter-light coupling using plasmonic system and scalable quantum plasmonic circuit. This offers opportunity for the quantum control of light with compact device footprint. However, coupling of a single emitter to highly localized plasmonic mode with nanoscale precision remains an important challe...

We report on the development of a metrological multiaxis nanopositioning device, which is operated by the piezo-based inertial method, as a sample stage for scanning probe microscopy. It has long moving range, unlimited in principle, and nanometer ~microradian! resolution. Two operation methods, inertial sliding and inertial walking, can be applied to the stage and the inertial operating method...

We present a terahertz (THz) scattering near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) based on a quantum cascade laser implemented as both source and detector in a self-mixing scheme utilizing resonant quartz tuning forks as a sensitive nanopositioning element. The homemade s-SNOM, based on a resonant tuning fork and metallic tip, operates in tapping mode with a spatial resolution of ∼78 nm. The quant...