Performance and Applications of L1B2 Ultrasonic Motors

Abstract

Piezoelectric ultrasonic motors offer important advantages for motion applications where high speed is coupled with high precision. The advances made in the recent decades in the field of ultrasonic motor based motion solutions allow the construction of complete motion platforms in the fields of semiconductors, aerospace and electro-optics. Among the various motor designs, the L1B2 motor type has been successful in industrial applications, offering high precision, effective control and operational robustness. This paper reviews the design of high precision motion solutions based on L1B2 ultrasonic motors—from the basic motor structure to the complete motion solution architecture, including motor drive and control, material considerations and performance envelope. The performance is demonstrated, via constructed motion stages, to exhibit fast move and settle, a repeatability window of tens of nanometers, lifetime into the tens of millions of operational cycles, and compatibility with clean room and aerospace environments. Example stages and modules for semiconductor, aerospace, electro-optical and biomedical applications are presented. The described semiconductor and aerospace solutions are powered by Nanomotion HR type motors, driven by a sine wave up to 80 V/mm rms, having a driving frequency of 39.6 kHz, providing a maximum force up to 4 N per driving element (at 5 W power consumption per element) and a maximum linear velocity above 300 mm/s. The described electro-optical modules are powered by small Nanomotion Edge motors driven by voltages up to 11 V AC, providing stall forces up to 0.35 N (power consumption up to 0.75 W) and maximum linear velocity above 200 mm/s.

Keywords

• ultrasonic motor
• applications of piezoelectrics
• precise motion