ABL1500Z Air Bearing, Direct-Drive Vertical Translation Stage
ABL1500Z is the vertical translation variant of the industry leading ABL1500 linear air bearing stage family. Featuring large air-bearing surfaces with air-on-air preload, ABL1500Z provides
excellent stiffness, payload capacity and geometric motion characteristics. Horizontal and vertical straightness, pitch, yaw and roll performance are second to none. Dual, symmetrically oriented pneumatic counterbalances can be easily adjusted to accommodate a wide payload range without inducing angular errors. Ironless linear motors eliminate cogging effects, resulting in ultra-smooth, reliable vertical motion.
- 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 subnanometer resolution
- High stiffness for heavy loads & excellent geometrical performance
- Four models with travels from 50 to 200 mm integral counterbalance
Key Applications
ABL1500Z air-bearing stages are ideal for applications requiring vertical motion with impeccable precision, repeatability and reliability, including:
- Semiconductor & electronics manufacturing
- Wafer inspection & metrology
- Silicon photonics alignment
- Precision metrology & surface profiling
- Synchrotron & beamline instrumentation
- X-ray and CT sample positioning
- Bonding & advanced packaging
Leading-edge manufacturing, particularly in the semiconductor and data storage industries, demands positioning tolerances beyond the capability of conventional ball-screw and mechanical-bearing positioning systems. The ABL1500Z, with its fully active preload, exceptionally high stiffness and excellent geometric characteristics, was designed specifically to meet those demands.
Air-Bearing Design for High Dynamic Performance
The ABL1500Z 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.
Aerotech’s proprietary manufacturing techniques result in a stage with unsurpassed geometric characteristics, which maximize performance by yielding superior pitch, roll, yaw, straightness and flatness specifications.
Zero-Cogging Linear Motor Drive
The driving force behind this stage is Aerotech’s BLMC series brushless linear servomotor. The BLMC utilizes an ironless forcer, which means there is zero cogging and no attractive forces, resulting in unsurpassed smoothness of motion.
No 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 expected of Aerotech equipment. Because there is no mechanical contact between moving elements, the ABL1500Z experiences no wear or reduction in performance over time. Service life is virtually unlimited and because 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.
ABL1500Z Specifications
| ABL1500Z-050 | ABL1500Z-100 | ABL1500Z-150 | ABL1500Z-200 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | 50 mm | 100 mm | 150 mm | 200 mm |
| Accuracy-E1-Calibrated (-PL2)(1) | ±0.3 µm | ±0.4 µm | ±0.5 µm | |
| Accuracy-E1-Standard(1) | ±2.0 µm | ±3.0 µm | ±5.0 µm | ±8.0 µm |
| Accuracy-E3-Calibrated (-PL2)(1) | ±0.2 µm | ±0.3 µm | ±0.5 µm | |
| Accuracy-E3-Standard(1) | ±1.5 µm | ±2.5 µm | ±4.0 µm | ±6.0 µm |
| Bidirectional Repeatability-E1(1) | ±0.1 µm | ±0.15 µm | ±0.2 µm | |
| Bidirectional Repeatability-E3(1) | ±0.1 µm | ±0.15 µm | ±0.2 µm | |
| Straightness(1) | ±0.4 µm | ±0.6 µm | ±0.8 µm | ±1.0 µm |
| Flatness(1) | ±0.4 µm | ±0.6 µm | ±0.8 µm | ±1.0 µm |
| Pitch | ±1 arc sec | ±1.5 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±2.5 arc sec |
| Roll | ±1 arc sec | ±1.5 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±2.5 arc sec |
| Yaw | ±1 arc sec | ±1.5 arc sec | ±2 arc sec | ±2.5 arc sec |
| Maximum Speed | 300 mm/s | |||
| Maximum Acceleration | 2 g (No Load) | |||
| Maximum Force (Continuous) | 93.6 N | |||
| Load Capacity(2) | 15 kg | |||
| Operating Pressure | 80 psi ±5 psig | |||
| Air Consumption | Stage: 24-30 SLPM @ 551 kPa; Counterbalance: 60 SLPM maximum | |||
| Moving Mass (No Load) | 5.9 kg (13.0 lb) | |||
| Stage Mass | 23.8 kg | 26.6 kg | 28.5 kg | 30.5 kg |
| Material | Hardcoat Anodized Aluminum | |||
| MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) | 20,000 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 dewpoint and filtered to 0.25 µm or better; recommend nitrogen at 99.9% purity.
ABL1500Z Electrical Specifications
| ABL1500Z-050 | ABL1500Z-100 | ABL1500Z-150 | ABL1500Z-200 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Open | |||
| Home Switch | Near Center | |||
Travel (Required)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -050 | 50 mm travel |
| -100 | 100 mm travel |
| -150 | 150 mm travel |
| -200 | 200 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 ZT assembly |
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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