Variable stiffness for acceleration and accuracy

Piezoelectric actuators offer a magnetic-field-free alternative to conventional Lorentz actuators, but their high mechanical stiffness leads to excessive disturbance transmission. This Mikroniek article presents a wafer-stage architecture combining piezoelectric short-stroke actuation with a variable-stiffness device. A wafer stage design for EBI systems is proposed and the concept is validated on a 1-DoF (one-degree-of-freedom) demonstrator. (Image courtesy of Ron de Bruijn)