ABL1500WB Air-Bearing, Direct-Drive Linear Stage

Description

Design Features

• Wide base for large offset loads
• Powerful dual linear motor drive
• Designed for high-performance scanning & inspection
• Active air preload on all air-bearing surfaces 
• Linear encoder feedback for subnanometer resolution
• High stiffness for heavy loads & excellent geometrical performance 
• Four models with travels from 200 mm 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

High-Dynamic Performance with Zero Maintenance

The ABL1500WB is a wide-base version of the ABL1500 series air-bearing stage. The wider base makes the ABL1500WB ideally suited for applications with large offset loads, and it is ideal as the lower axis in XY stage systems with large travel. The ABL1500WB incorporates dual linear motors, effectively doubling the force output of a standard ABL1500 stage. Leading-edge industries, particularly in the semiconductor and high-performance test and measurement fields, demand positioning tolerances beyond the capability of conventional ball-screw and mechanical-bearing positioning systems. The ABL1500WB, 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 ABL1500WB 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. The ABL1500WB is designed for high-performance scanning and inspection. Aerotech’s proprietary manufacturing techniques result in a stage with unsurpassed geometrical characteristics, which maximize performance by yielding 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. The BLMC utilizes an ironless forcer, which means there is zero cogging and no attractive forces, resulting in unsurpassed smoothness of motion. 

Zero Maintenance

Our totally non contact air bearing, non contact 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 ABL1500WB 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.