Integrated Planar 6-DOF Nanopositioning System

The integrated planar 6-DOF drive system evolves from the combination of a 3D planar motor to actuate x,y, and ϕz and three individual vertical actuators which allow actuation in z, ϕx and ϕy. In all axes aerostatic guiding is applied while the vertical actuators additionally implement a pneumatic weight compensation to carry the static weight of the slider which is why these elements are also referred to as lifting and actuation units (LAU). For 6D closed loop control the displacements and tilting angles are measured with a high precision multichannel plane mirror interferometer system. The paper introduces the concept of the integrated planar 6-DOF drive system and explains the design of the realized system for a travel range of ø100mm in x, y and 10 mm in z. The three key components: the lifting and actuation units, the planar direct drive system and the multichannel interferometer system are explained in more detail including preliminary investigations of these individual systems which were carried out to evaluate and improve the performance prior to the integration into the overall system.