Piezo Stack Linear Actuators

What Are Piezo Stack Actuators Used For?

Piezo stack actuators are used wherever very small motion must be generated with high speed, high force, and extremely fine resolution. Typical applications include nanopositioning, precision focusing, active vibration cancellation, valve control, fast optical alignment, adaptive optics, semiconductor metrology, microscopy, interferometry, and dynamic force generation.

Because piezo stacks are solid-state devices with no gears, screws, or rotating parts, they provide fast response, high stiffness, and excellent repeatability over short travel ranges. They are especially useful in systems where conventional electromagnetic or screw-driven actuators are too slow, too large, or not precise enough.

Piezo Stack Linear Actuator Basics

Piezo stack linear actuators provide high resolution, high power, and very rapid response in the microsecond range. Travel ranges are typically 10 µm to 200 µm, making them ideal for fast nanopositioning, active vibration control, precision force generation, microscopy, optics, semiconductor metrology, and dynamic alignment tasks.

Piezo Stack Linear Actuators

PICMA® Multilayer Piezo Stack Linear Actuators with Ceramic Insulation

• Ideal for dynamic operation
• Ceramic encapsulation for superior lifetime
• Very large operating temperature range
• High humidity resistance
• Excellent temperature stability
• High stiffness
• Peak current up to 20 A
• UHV compatible to 10^-9 hPa
• Sub-millisecond response / sub-nanometer resolution

PICMA® multilayer piezo stacks are characterized by high performance and reliability, even in harsh environments. They are superior to conventional multilayer actuators in industrial and high-endurance applications, where they show substantially longer lifetime in both static and dynamic operation.

PDF Brochure | Piezo Stack Actuator Specs, Drawings, Part Numbers

Medium Load, Steel-Encased Preloaded Piezo Stack Actuators

• Integrated position sensor option
• Outstanding lifetime due to PICMA® piezo ceramic stacks
• To 90 µm positioning range
• 1000 N pushing force
• 50 N tensile force
• Sub-millisecond response, sub-nanometer resolution
• Options: ball tip, vacuum

These preloaded, packaged piezo linear actuators are based on PI's proprietary PICMA® multilayer stacks. They provide sub-millisecond response and sub-nanometer resolution for high-dynamics precision positioning tasks.

PDF Brochure | Piezo Stack Actuator Specs, Drawings, Part Numbers

PICA™ Power High-Force / High-Load Steel-Encased Preloaded Piezo Stack Linear Actuators

• To 180 µm positioning range
• To 4500 N push force
• To 500 N tensile load
• Sub-millisecond response
• Sub-nanometer resolution
• Options: vacuum, high- and low-temperature

P-216 series preloaded, high-force linear piezo actuators can be used in static and dynamic applications. The integrated preload makes them suitable for dynamic applications such as precision machining or active vibration cancellation.

PDF Brochure | P-216 Piezo Stack Actuator Specs

PICA™ Power Ultra-High-Force Steel-Encased Piezo Stack Linear Actuators with Preloaded Case

• Extremely high stiffness
• To 30,000 N pushing force
• To 3500 N tensile force
• To 180 µm positioning range
• Options: closed-loop, vacuum, high- and low-temperature
• Water-resistant case option

P-235 series preloaded, ultra-high-force linear piezo actuators can be used in static and dynamic applications. They provide sub-millisecond response and sub-nanometer resolution, with an integrated preload for demanding dynamic operation.

PDF Brochure | P-235 Piezo Stack Actuator Specs

PICA™ Piezo Stack Ultra-High-Force Linear Actuators

• High load capacity to 100 kN
• High force generation to 80 kN
• Large cross sections to 56 mm diameter
• Variety of shapes
• Extreme reliability >10⁹ cycles
• Sub-millisecond response, sub-nanometer resolution
• Vacuum-compatible versions

PICA™ Stack piezo ceramic actuators are offered in a large variety of standard shapes and sizes, with custom designs available to suit demanding force, travel, geometry, and environmental requirements.

PDF Brochure | Piezo Stack Actuator Specs, Drawings, Part Numbers