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Photonics Packaging & Alignment Experience
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PI provides a great variety of innovative solutions for photonics packaging and alignment automation.
Products range from 6D MicroMotion robots for industrial automation, through ultra-fast piezoelectric scanning modules to modular devices with manual control for laboratory test setups.
Applications include automated angular alignment of collimated fibers and arrays, thin-film WDM add/drops, MEMS switches, planar MEMS cross-connects and multi-channel waveguides.
Additional PI products are available for applications such as writing fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), fiber stretching, coarse alignment, beam switching, etc.
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| 6-DOF MicroMotion Robots |
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Family of HexAlign™ industrial 6D MicroMotion Robots. PI has over a decade experience with sub-micron-resolution 6D Hexapod designs. |
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Fiber Rotators
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Motorized fiber rotator for
polarization-preserving fibers. |
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Rapid XYZ NanoAligners
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F-130 XYZ rapid-alignment systems features 1nm piezoelectric resolution and 15 mm motorized travle-range in each axis. |
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Closed-loop industrial piezoelectric modules such as NanoCube™ allow rapid mapping of the entire coupling cross-section, eliminating suprious lock-on to local maxima. |
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Control Software
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HexControl Software. Display shows an optical device scan. |
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Switching/Aligning
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PZT bender actuator can be used in fast switching applications. |
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Modular PZT Aligners
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Modular manual and piezoelectric aligners. |
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5D Serial Linematics
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CAD design of a custom 5D
coarse/fine alignment systems
with closed-loop PZT drives. |
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6D Parallel Kinematics
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F-206 HexAlign™ 6D alignment system integrates long-travel, high-precision, six-degrees-of-freedom motion and linear/rotary alignment automation. Optional high-speed, 100x100x100 µm, XYZ PZT alignment module achieves nanometer resolution. |
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Workspace
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Example of F-206
6D workspace |
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Serial vs. Parallel Kinematics
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Stacked "serial" kinematics 6D alignment system vs. Hexapod "parallel" kinematics systems designs clearly show advantages of the hexapod, such as minimized size and inertia for highest responsiveness and throughput. Also note: no moving cables means better realibility and responsibility. |
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Experience
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PI's first ultra-high-resolution 6D hexapod positioning system was intruced for optical alignment in astronomical telescopes a decade ago. |
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| Addes Ultra-Fine Motion |
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NanoCube™ industrial XYZ high-speed piezo alignment module with controller card featuring optical metrology and search functionality. The controller card and NanoCube™ module can be integrated in the F-206 6D alignment system for enhanced versatility. |
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Coordinate Transformation:
Internal, Automatic |
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PI's hexapod controllers perform sopisticated 6-space coorinate transformations and pathplanning internally, automatically. This makes the system very easy to use, as the unit speaks in terms of familiar X,Y,Z coordinates with milimeter and degree units (4-decimal-place precision). |
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Integration
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F-206 HexAlign 6-DOF MicroMotion Robot deployed as a photonic alignment subsystem for automated assembly of fiber piftailed devices. Courtesy of Aries Innovations. |
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NxN Fiber-Array Alignment
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Automated fiber-array alignment software for the F-206 MicroMotion Robot. |
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Why Can PI Provide Superior Solutions?
- Broadest range of architectures for industrial alignment and positioning.
- Sophisticated, modular, rapid-alignment automation technologies.
- Unique troughput-optimization technologies.
- 30 years experience in designing ultra-high-precicion mechanics and controls.
- More than 10 years experience in fiber and photonic device handling for industrial automation.
- Easy-to-use / easy-to-integrate software, DLLs, LabView support, built-in scan & align routines.
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Automated Collimator Alignment
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F-206 HexAlign™ Hexapod principle allows motion of platform in all six degrees of freedom. Ideal for angular scans and alignment tasks like those required in collimator packaging applications. |
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Fully Virtuallized Center of Rotation
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Automatic software coordinate transformation allows the center of rotation to be placed instantly anywhere in space, such as the tip of a fiber, the beam waist of a alser diode, the focal point of a lens, the surface of a thin-film filter, or the optical axis of an array channel. |
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6D Controller with Scan &
Align Functions
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F-206 HexAlign™ controller features built-in optical metrology and a variety of automatic scan & alignment functions. |
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"Pre-Align...
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...by Wire"
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F-206 software even supports manual pre-alignment. The windows show: XY position, intensity distribution in Y and Z directions and the photometer read-out "thermometer" with peak detector. |
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The Hexapod 6D manual control pad upgrade allows fully independent manual moves in each hexapod asxis with software-feedback and variable step size. Works similar to fly-by-wire control in aircraft. |
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Alignment Routines
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PI provides several automatic alignment routines to quickly find the point of maximum light intensity. |
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LabView™ Support
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LabView™ drivers, including complete scan-and-align routines are available to support your automation process. |
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High-Resolution Actuators
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Variety of closed-loop motor actuators, 10 to 50 mm travel range, bellscrew and leadscrew drivers, < 50 nm resolution for automation/upgrade. |
IntelliStages™
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Long-travel translation stages are available in a variety of form factors and travel ranges. Features include Direct Output Metrology (linear scales) and integrated motion controllers/drivers (IntelliStages™). |
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2D Rotary Alignment
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Custom θx, θy alignment system. |
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Modular Solutions
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Modular 6x6x6 mm XYZ Micro-Aligners featuring ultra-hightech-resolution PZT drivers. |
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Motorized actuator upgrade featuring
< 50nm resolution. |
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Precision manual aligners with crossed roller bearings provide excellent stability and minimum crosstalk. |
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 Manual 18x18x18 mm XYZ micro-positioners, with 50x50x50 µm XYZ piezo-electric fine motion and sub nanometer resolution. |
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Fiber Stretching/Tuning
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PZT tubes can be used for tuning applications (e.g. fiber stretching). |
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InputShaping™
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Left: Resonances excited in fixture on/around PZT NanoScanning stage can limit quality and/or speed of dithering process.
Right: Same PZT NanoScanning stage, same dithering frequency, same fixturing but control with PI's exclusives InputShaping technology providing.
- Higher-resolution gratings
- Finer spectral linewidths
- Higher rejection rations
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MEMS
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PI precision alignment solutions are ideal for MEMS testing & production. The above "motion picture" was acquired with the Polytec Laser Scanning Vibrometers. |
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Beam Steering/Switching
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Ultra-fast PZT beam-steering platforms provide high bandwidth and accuracy in steering, stabilization and switching applications. |
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FBG Writing
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PI provides a variety of NanoScanning stages for FBG writing and other precise positioning and scanning processes. |
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Laser Tuning
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Sub-nanometer-resolution open- and closed-loop PZT transaction stages provide ultra-precise trajectory control and are ideal for tuning applications. |
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Fabry-Perot Filters
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Through-hole mirror shifters providing sub-nanometer resolution can be used in Fabry-Perot filters. |
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