News & Press

Precision automation in mechanical engineering requires positioning systems which do not only work accurately and dynamically but which are also robust and reliable. Typical examples of applications are laser processing, 3-D printing, optical inspection, or scanning. PI (Physik Instrumente) now offers the particularly robust V-412 and V-417 linear stages for such fields of application.

High-precision, piezo-based positioning systems for millimeter travel ranges are required in many fields, as for example in microscopy, in the automation of manual tools, or in mobile devices, in systems for micromanipulation, in optomechanics, and for scientific instruments as well as increasingly for industrial applications. PI (Physik Instrumente), a solution supplier of high-precision positioning systems, has incorporated many positioning solutions originally developed for specific applications into its standard range of products.

Laser processing, electronics production, optical inspection, and many more automation solutions require dynamic, precise and at the same time reliable positioning systems that can be easily integrated into machines. PI (Physik Instrumente) has therefore extended its product portfolio for industrial positioning solutions with the L-412 and L-417 linear stages.

This year's European Photonics Industry Consortiums (EPIC) on the subject of "automation for manufacturing, packaging, and inspecting optoelectronic elements" meeting took place in PI's new technology center at the headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany, from the 22^nd to 23^rd May 2018. The two-day event proved to be the ideal networking platform for a large number of photonics specialists from all over the world, who were interested in automating their high-precision production and inspection lines.

PI (Physik Instrumente) has successfully established itself on the market as solution supplier of high-precision positioning systems. Many of the positioning solutions that were originally developed for specific applications are part of today’s standard portfolio. A new clearly structured catalog with 300 pages now provides an overview of the broad range of standard industry-compliant motorized single- and multi-axis positioning solutions.

If a target or an actual dimension between two components inside precision machines changes, for instance in semiconductor manufacturing, measuring applications or inspection systems, readjustment may be necessary. An example of this would be when the machine is started up at the user's location, and initial settings, drifting or changes in tolerances need to be compensated after installation. The disadvantage of classical shims that are ground exactly to the required dimension, is that they need to be inserted mechanically. Furthermore, unlimited fine adjustment is not always possible and once the dimension has been fixed, it is often very difficult to change it afterwards. PI (Physik Instrumente) has found the perfect solution for this and developed the PIRest piezo-based "shims". Once they have been installed into the machine, the active shims not only make it possible to readjust the gap between two components at any time, but also achieve this with nanometer precision.

Air bearing positioning stages have proven themselves in a large number of applications, for instance, in metrology, when aligning optical fibers, in semiconductor manufacturing and wafer inspection, in precision scanning applications or positioning tasks in cleanrooms. The air bearings have a number of advantages compared to mechanical bearings. They operate without friction, there is no abrasion, the speed of vibration-free motion can be controlled exactly and repeatability is possible in the nanometer range.

With effect from March 1, Dr. Thomas Bocher has taken over the responsibility at PI (Physik Instrumente) for global business development in the field of Microscopy & Life Sciences. The creation of this new, strategic function in this growing segment is intended to support the PI Group in its systematic strategy for growth.

As part of the PIC conference, which takes place in Brussels on the 10th and 11th of April, innovative companies will be honored with the PIC-Award for products and solutions with highly integrated photonic circuits (PIC - photonic integrated circuits). Online voting is open to the public at picawards.net/vote until March 23 to decide who will be the winners in each of the various categories. The fast multi axis photonics alignment system from PI (Physik Instrumente) has been nominated for the final vote in the "Advances in Manufacturing" category.