Compact air bearing linear stage for high-precision motion, metrology and scanning applications

Unlike stages based on recirculating ball bearings or crossed rollers, the A-110 linear stage uses magnetically preloaded air bearings. The moving carriage rides on a thin film of air, eliminating mechanical contact between the bearing surfaces. With no rolling elements, there is no stick-slip behaviour, bearing friction, or mechanical wear. The result is exceptionally smooth motion with low velocity ripple and consistent performance over long operating periods.

The non-contact bearing design also provides excellent straightness, flatness, pitch, and yaw characteristics. This is especially important in scanning and metrology applications where positioning accuracy in one dimension alone does not describe the complete motion error. A stage may reach the commanded position accurately while still introducing angular or lateral errors that affect the measurement or process. Air bearings help minimise these parasitic motions.

Non-cogging motors

An ironless brushless linear motor provides direct-drive actuation without gears, belts, or lead screws. Because the motor has no iron in its core, it also avoids the cogging forces associated with conventional iron-core linear motors. Combined with direct encoder feedback, and PI's advanced motion control algorithms, this allows smooth velocity control and precise trajectory execution over the full travel range.

Travel ranges from 50 mm to 400 mm are available. Depending on the configuration, the A-110 can achieve velocities up to 1 m/s and accelerations up to 20 m/s2. Typical calibrated positioning accuracy is +/-0.5 um, while encoder options include incremental and absolute systems with resolution down to 1 nanometre. Load capacity is specified as 10kg.

Designed for clean and repeatable motion

Because air bearings operate without mechanical contact or lubrication, the A-110 generates virtually no particulate contamination. This makes it a good fit for semiconductor inspection, photonics manufacturing, optical metrology, and other applications where cleanliness and long-term repeatability are important.

The absence of mechanical wear also reduces changes in motion performance over time. For systems that perform millions of scanning or positioning cycles, this can be a significant advantage compared with conventional mechanical bearing systems.

Single-axis and multi-axis configurations

The A-110 can be used as a standalone linear axis or integrated into multi-axis positioning systems. XY configurations are available, along with compatible motion controllers, air preparation equipment, vibration isolation systems, and custom-engineered motion platforms.

This modular approach allows the same air-bearing technology to be used for anything from a single precision scanning axis to a complete multi-axis motion subsystem.