Fundamentals of opto-mechatronic systems (OMC)
Currently innovation is taking place at the border of disciplines rather than in one individual field of engineering. This particularly holds for application domains that span more than one field of engineering, since a high level of system integration from different disciplines provides solutions that a single domain alone cannot provide. As an example, the combination of optics and mechatronics form the interdisciplinary field of opto-mechatronics. Read more →
Atomic Force Microscopy capable of vibration isolation (Vibrostop AFM)
An atomic force microscope (AFM) can image and inspect a sample surface with high resolution by scanning a probe with a sharp tip over the sample. During scanning, the vertical position of the probe with respect to the sample typically needs to be regulated with nanometer resolution. For the required high resolution, AFMs are sensitive to vibrations transmitted from the floor dependent on their design. Read more →
Automated in-line metrology for nanopositioning systems (aim4np)
Within the scope of this project, a novel approach is developed for robot-based in-line metrology to isolate nanoscale measurements from environmental vibrations. Instead of isolating sample and robot from floor vibrations by means of passive or active vibration isolation aids, the distance between sample and metrology tool is kept constant. Read more →
Precision actuator selection
Many applications require positioning with nanometer resolution. They include lithographic equipment for semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing and data storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and optical disk drives (ODDs) (e.g. CD/DVD/Blu-ray), as well as scientific instruments such as atomic force microscopes (AFMs). The achievable positioning resolution of these systems is typically influenced by vibrations transmitted from the floor. Read more →