ABL1500 Air-Bearing Direct-Drive Linear Stage
The ABL1500 delivers high stiffness and excellent geometric characteristics – maximizing performance for manufacturing processes with demanding positioning tolerances and heavy or offset loading. Its totally non-contact air bearings, linear motor drive and feedback device ensure years of maintenance-free operation at the highest performance levels. Since there is no lubrication – only clean, dry gas – air bearings are ideal for cleanroom and medical applications.
- Description
- Specifications
- Dimensions
- Ordering Info
- Downloads
Design Features
- Designed for high-performance scanning & inspection
- Active air preload on all air-bearing surfaces
- Linear encoder feedback provides sub-nanometer resolution
- High stiffness for heavy loads & excellent geometrical performance
- Travel up to 500 mm
Key Applications
ABL1500WB linear air-bearing stages are ideal for applications and processes requiring outstanding precision, geometric and dynamic performance and ultra-smooth motion, including:
- Semiconductor manufacturing & inspection
- Lithography
- Surface metrology
- Photonic device manufacturing
- Advanced packaging
- Laser microprocessing
- Synchrotron, beamline & other research applications
Air-Bearing Design for High Dynamic Performance
The ABL1500 incorporates an air-on-air preload on both the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The opposing thin-film pressure maintains the bearing nominal gap tolerance. This design, in addition to the large air bearing surface that distributes the load over a large surface area, results in a stage with outstanding stiffness that is ideal for heavy or offset loading.
Proprietary manufacturing techniques result in a stage with unsurpassed geometric characteristics. The air bearing has an inherent averaging effect that maximizes performance. The thin film will fill small surface voids and allow for other irregularities. This characteristic yields superior pitch, roll, yaw, straightness and flatness specifications.
Linear Motor Drive
The driving force behind this stage is Aerotech’s BLMC series brushless linear servomotor. Aerotech’s long history and experience as a motor manufacturer is reflected in this design. The BLMC utilizes an ironless forcer, which means there is zero cogging and no attractive forces, resulting in unsurpassed smoothness of motion. Capable of generating high force and velocity, the BLMC represents the ultimate combination of power and performance.
Zero Maintenance
Our totally noncontact air bearing, noncontact linear motor drive and noncontact feedback device ensure years of maintenance-free operation at the high performance levels that are expected of Aerotech equipment. Because there is no mechanical contact between moving elements, the ABL1500 experiences no wear or reduction in performance over time. Service life is virtually unlimited and since there is no lubrication – only clean, dry gas – air bearings are ideal for cleanroom and medical applications.
Cable Management
We carefully optimize the cable bend radius to ensure years of trouble-free operation. In the unlikely event of failure, Aerotech’s modular design makes cable replacement quick and easy with minimal downtime. We include all customer-required cables, air hoses, etc. in our CMS bundle to facilitate integration into the final system. Both ends are fully connectorized for simple integration into the customer’s machine.
ABL1500 Specifications
| ABL1500-050 | ABL1500-100 | ABL1500-200 | ABL1500-300 | ABL1500-400 | ABL1500-500 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | 50 mm | 100 mm | 200 mm | 300 mm | 400 mm | 500 mm |
| Accuracy-E1-Calibrated (-PL2)(1) | ±0.3 µm | ±0.5 µm | ±0.6 µm | |||
| Accuracy-E1-Standard(1) | ±2.0 µm | ±4.0 µm | ±8.0 µm | ±12.0 µm | ±16.0 µm | ±20.0 µm |
| Accuracy-E3-Calibrated (-PL2)(1) | ±0.2 µm | ±0.4 µm | ±0.5 µm | |||
| Accuracy-E3-Standard(1) | ±1.0 µm | ±2.0 µm | ±5.0 µm | |||
| Repeatability (Bidirectional)-E1(1) | ±0.1 µm | ±0.2 µm | ±0.3 µm | |||
| Repeatability (Bidirectional)-E3(1) | ±0.05 µm | ±0.1 µm | ±0.15 µm | ±0.2 µm | ||
| Straightness(1) | ±0.25 µm | ±0.4 µm | ±0.5 µm | ±0.75 µm | ±1.5 µm | ±2.0 µm |
| Flatness(1) | ±0.25 µm | ±0.4 µm | ±0.5 µm | ±0.75 µm | ±1.5 µm | ±2.0 µm |
| Pitch | ±0.5 arc sec | ±1 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±3 arc sec | ±4 arc sec | ±5 arc sec |
| Roll | ±0.5 arc sec | ±1 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±3 arc sec | ±4 arc sec | ±5 arc sec |
| Yaw | ±0.5 arc sec | ±1 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±3 arc sec | ±4 arc sec | ±5 arc sec |
| Maximum Speed | 2 m/s | |||||
| Maximum Acceleration | 2 g (No Load) | |||||
| Maximum Force (Continuous) | 93.6 N | |||||
| Load Capacity-Horizontal(2) | 35 kg | |||||
| Load Capacity-Side(2) | 25 kg | |||||
| Operating Pressure | 80 psi ±5 psig | |||||
| Air Consumption | 24-30 SLPM @ 551 kPa (0.85-1.06 SCFM @ 5.51 bar) | |||||
| Moving Mass (No Load) | 5.1 kg | |||||
| Stage Mass | 14.7 kg | 16.0 kg | 18.6 kg | 21.3 kg | 23.9 kg | 26.5 kg |
| Material | Hardcoat Anodized Aluminum | |||||
| MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) | 30,000 Hours | |||||
- Certified with each stage.
- Axis orientation for on-axis loading is listed.
- Specifications are for single-axis systems measured 25 mm above the tabletop. Performance of multi-axis systems is payload and workpoint dependent. Consult factory for multi-axis or non-standard applications.
- To protect air bearing against under-pressure, an in-line pressure switch tied to the motion controller/amplifier ESTOP input is recommended.
- Air supply must be clean, dry to 0°F dew point and filtered to 0.25 µm or better; recommend nitrogen at 99.9% purity.
- For XY assemblies of ABL1500, the maximum upper axis travel is 200 mm. For upper axis travels greater than 200 mm but equal to or less than 500 mm, an ABL1500WB is required as the lower axis.
ABL1500 Electrical Specifications
| ABL1500-050 | ABL1500-100 | ABL1500-200 | ABL1500-300 | ABL1500-400 | ABL1500-500 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drive System | Brushless Linear Servomotor | |||||
| Feedback | Noncontact Linear Encoder (see signal period options on Order Information page) | |||||
| Maximum Bus Voltage | up to 80 VDC | |||||
| Limit Switches | 5 V, Normally Closed | |||||
| Home Switch | Near Center | |||||
Travel (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -050 | 50 mm travel |
| -100 | 100 mm travel |
| -200 | 200 mm travel |
| -300 | 300 mm travel |
| -400 | 400 mm travel |
| -500 | 500 mm travel |
Feedback (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -E1 | Incremental linear encoder, 1 Vpp amplified sine output |
| -E3 | High-accuracy incremental linear encoder, 1 Vpp amplified sine output |
Cable Management (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -CMS1 | Single axis cable management system |
| -CMS2 | Cable management system for XY assembly |
| -CMS3 | Cable management system for Y axis, upper axis only |
| -CMS4 | Cable management system for YZ assembly, upper axis only |
Metrology (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -PL1 | Metrology, uncalibrated with performance plots |
| -PL2 | Metrology, calibrated (HALAR) with performance plots |
Integration (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -TAS | Integration - Test as system Testing, integration, and documentation of a group of components as a complete system that will be used together (ex: drive, controller, and stage). This includes parameter file generation, system tuning, and documentation of the system configuration. |
| -TAC | Integration - Test as components Testing and integration of individual items as discrete components that ship together. This is typically used for spare parts, replacement parts, or items that will not be used together. These components may or may not be part of a larger system. |
Accessories (to be ordered as a separate line item)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| ALIGN-NPA | Non-precision XY assembly |
| ALIGN-PA10 | XY assembly; 10 arc sec orthogonality. Alignment to within 7 microns orthogonality for short travel stages. |
| ALIGN-PA5 | XY assembly; 5 arc sec orthogonality. Alignment to within 3 microns orthogonality for short travel stages. |
| ABF | Air-bearing filtration kit |
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