A beam flexure-based nanopositioning stage supporting laser direct-write nanofabrication

A nanopositioning system of both millimetric stroke and nanometric tracking accuracy is a key component for nanofabrication in many applications. In this paper, a novel bi-axial beam-flexure nano servo stage is proposed to support a direct writing system for femtosecond laser nanofabrication. The important features of the stage lie in: a mirror symmetric instead of rotational symmetric configuration is adopted to restrict cross axis coupling, and a novel Z-shaped guidance module is proposed to achieve relative large linear stiffness range, in addition a redundant constraints module is introduced to increase off-axis stiffness of the stage. Mechanical analysis and system identification are provided, with which a feedback control algorithm demonstrates the tracking capability for laser fabrication purposes. Based on the fabricated XY nano-stage, real time control and measurements are deployed, demonstrating the millimetric operating workspace and 77.8 nm (RMS) error of tracking a circular trajectory.