• Flexure design ensures smooth continuous motion.
• Compact design - 62.5mm from the table to the moving deck, and 75mm from the table to the optical axis of the accessories.
• Unlike conventional bearing stages, this flexure stage avoids friction by having no sliding parts.
• The flexure design enhances long-term stability, traditional linear bearings require grease to operate which compromises stability.
• All adjusters tied to a common ground which is decoupled from moving worlds to provide unparalleled stability

NanoMax Parallel Flexure Stages
The patented MAX300 series parallel flexure designs advantages are readily apparent when it is implemented in alignment applications requiring sub-micron resolution, or better. Typically, with a multi-axis stacked stage, touching one of the two drives that are not referenced to “ground” will result in unwanted motion within the assembly. With each of the drives in a NanoMax™ series stage coupled directly to the base of the stage, these adverse effects are eliminated. A wide range of accessories are available to mount items such as microscope objectives, collimation packages, wave guides, fiber and much more. In addition multiple adapter plates are also available to mount the NanoMax series stages to a wide range of other Thorlabs rotation and long travel linear stages.

High Resolution Stepper Motor Drives
The actuators supplied with the MAX341, 342, and 343 stages have a resolution of 25nm. These actuators are capable of speeds as high as 4mm/sec as well as providing Bidirectional repeatability less than 1.0μm RMS. Ceramic tipped high precision limit switches provide a high repeatability ideal for homing the motors. This is critical for auto alignment applications that rely on a highly repeatable zero point.DRV001

Closed Loop Internal Piezoelectric Actuators
The MAX342 and MAX341 feature internal piezoelectric actuators built directly into the body of the stage, providing a 20µm travel range with a positional resolution of 20nm.   Furthermore, the MAX341 features three strain gauge displacement sensors which provides a voltage signal that is linearly proportional to the displacement of the piezoelectric element. This signal is used to compensate for the hysteresis, creep, and thermal drift that is inherent in all piezoelectric elements. If driven by a controller which uses a balanced bridge circuit, the piezoelectric actuator can be controlled in a closed-loop feedback mode that improves the positional resolution from 20nm to 5nm. Hysteresis, mechanical creep, and drift can be monitored and compensated via this sensor. These features coupled with the or NanoTrak controllers create a powerful auto alignment solution for eliminating decreased coupling efficiency due to thermal drift or other external forces.The modular design allows for the piezo travel to be increased by fitting an additional piezo extender in series with the  DRV001 stepper motor actuators .  Combined, these features make the MAX341 flexure stage a solid platform for Auto alignment applications that require high stability and repeatability.MNA601BNT001