Micropositioners using a crystal having moveable domain walls
US4128616A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 11, 1977 |
| Grant date | Dec 5, 1978 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 11, 1997 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10N30/85
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Objects are displaced with precision over very small distances by a micropositioner which includes a body of crystalline material having at least one domain wall. One end of the crystalline body is affixed to a base. An object to be moved is secured to the opposite end. The crystalline material is such that movement of the domain wall causes relative motion between the ends of the crystalline body, resulting in a displacement of the object with respect to the base. A ruled scale is disposed along the path of travel of each domain wall to indicate displacement over known, precisely controllable distances. In a first embodiment, the object is a microprobe and the crystalline body includes a single domain wall. Movement of the latter provides linear motion of the microprobe. In another embodiment, the object is an electron microscope grid assembly. Here the crystalline body includes two domain walls, allowing two-dimensional planar motion of the assembly.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.