A novel piezoelectrically actuated 2-DoF compliant micro/nano-positioning stage with multi-level amplification

This article presents a novel two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DoF) piezo-actuated parallel-kinematic micro/nano-positioning stage with multi-level amplification. The mirror symmetric stage consists of four leverage mechanisms, two Scott-Russell mechanisms, and a Z-shaped flexure hinge (ZFH) mechanism. Taking advantage of the ZFH mechanism, 2-DoF motions with final-level flexural amplification and decoupled motion guidance are achieved. Analytical models of the stage are developed and validated through finite element analysis to characterize its working performance. Practical testing of a prototype stage is conducted to demonstrate the design process and to quantify its response characteristics. Due to the utilized multi-level amplification, a practical amplification ratio of 13.0 is realized by the prototype. The decoupled output motion guidance feature of the stage makes it amenable for implementation in raster scanning type of measurements. Published by AIP Publishing.