ABSTRACT
Piezoelectric flexure drive mechanisms offer a number of advantages over traditional stepping and servo motor bearing guide stages. This chapter gives a practical understanding of the use of scanning and fine positioning devices allowing the scientist or engineer to make the most of their inherent advantages while addressing the constraints they impose. Due to the discrete structure of a piezoelectric stack, its expansion is often a bit unpredictable. Stacks have a tendency to exhibit all kinds of bad behavior such as twisting and tilting. Piezoelectric stacks also exhibit some drifting in position or "creep." Stack-flexure piezo stages have no parts that move against each other. The stacks, when arranged in alternating order, are able to accelerate and stop actively taking advantage of their huge pressure force potential. Strain gages can be applied directly onto a stack of PZT to measure strain that has been produced by the expansion of the PZT or onto the flexing hinges of the flexure structure.
