PI Awarded United States Patent for Piezo Actuator Technology

PI (Physik Instrumente), a leading manufacturer of piezo actuators and precision motion-control equipment has received a United States patent for its development of innovative multilayer ceramic actuators. PI's exclusive PICMA® piezo-ceramic actuators are based on the novel stress reduction and encapsulation technologies which increase lifetime by several orders of magnitude both in static and dynamic applications, addressing key lifetime mechanisms common to other piezoelectric actuators.

For more information, see U.S. Patent No. 7,449,077 "Method for the production of monolithic multilayer actuator made of a piezoceramic or electrostrictive material and external electrical contact for a monolithic multilayer actuator."

Typical Applications for Piezoceramic Actuators

• Semiconductor Test & Measurement
• Life Sciences, Nanomanipulation
• Aerospace & Astronomy
• Optics, Photonics & Metrology
• Spectroscopy, Microscopy, AFMs, NSOM, Nanomanipulation
• Lithography
• Nanopatterning
• Motion Control: Microsteppers, Voice-Coils
• Data Storage Microactuation