Enhance Metrology Accuracy with ALIO’s Nanometer-Capable Motion Control Solutions

New and better metrology sensor designs have created the demand for nanometer-capable stages moving a sample or sensor over several hundred millimeters. Perfect flatness and point repeatability are required by today’s measurement systems, allowing measurements with sub-micron accuracies. The motion systems moving these sensors require an even higher precision — ideally an order of magnitude more precise than the sensor itself. 

For such applications, ALIO provides its vertical Z-stages and monolithic XY bases. ALIO’s uniquely designed Z-stage provides a completely linear-based vertical solution with near-air-bearing performance, order of magnitude more precise than traditional Z-wedge solutions. Using a vertical Z-stage on a monolithic XY base allows the customer’s payload to be mounted directly on the top of the stage in-line with the motor, encoder, bearings, and counterbalance, thus minimizing overhanging brackets and greatly reducing potential Abbé errors. ALIO’s XY monolithic stages introduce previously unheard-of straightness of travel with nanometer precision to reduce measurement uncertainty for metrology OEMs.