System Configuration: Nanopositioning Stages for Inverted Microscopes

Micrometer or Nanometer Class Stages – What to use When

When selecting a precision positioning stage, microscope users are often faced with the challenge of combining seemingly contradictory requirements. On the one hand, large positioning areas need to be covered at high speeds, and on the other hand, many microscopy techniques require long-term stability and positioning accuracy in the nanometer range. A proven method to meet both requirements is to combine a motorized XY stage with a piezo nanopositioning stage. To facilitate integration into microscopes from different manufacturers, PI has developed a product portfolio that includes a wide range of sample holders. The new Microscope Stage Configurator system overview describes the combination of individual subsystems.

Finding the right combination of motorized stages, nanopositioning stages and sample holders and adapters made easy. Download the PDF – It includes live links to the individual product datasheets.

High Stability Motorized Stages for Long Travel Ranges with a wide Dynamic Range

PI offers two basic motorized long-travel XY stage designs and a manual XY stage. Both the U-780 XY stage (up to 135 x 95 mm) and the U-760 This drive technology provides an extremely large vibration-free dynamic range from micrometers/second to 100 mm/second. At idle, the motor self-clamps, providing excellent stability during long shooting sessions. The

U-780 stage can be used with Nikon Eclipse Ti/Ti2, Leica DMI6000/DMI8 microscopes, and Olympus' IX, IX2, and IX3 microscopes (here his 100x75mm travel).

The small U-760 stage (25 x 25 mm travel) is compatible with the above Nikon and Olympus inverted microscopes. Both stages (U-780 and U-760) come with a corresponding controller (C-867.2U2) and USB joystick.

The U-780 PIline® motorized XY microscope stage is available for microscopes from Nikon, Olympus and Leica. Controller and Joystick are included.

The U-760 PIline® motorized XY microscope provides 25x25mm travel. Motion controller and joystick are included.

U-780 stage with well-plate piezo Z-stage in motion.

Manual Sample Positioning Stages / Prepositioning

The M-545 manual XY stage provides 1 micron resolution with an integrated micrometer screw. When combined with a piezo-bending nanopositioning/scanning stage, it can perform XY/Z or Z translation with nanometer resolution and 200 μm translation range.

At just 30 mm (1.2 inches), it is compatible with a wide range of inverted microscopes from leading manufacturers.

 Table: Compatibility and basic specification of several XY microscopy stages from PI

Both the U-780 and U-760 motorized XY stages have submicron resolution. Although this is sufficient for most research projects based on confocal microscopy, various techniques of high-resolution microscopy (“super-resolution”) require precision well beyond 100 nanometers.

Download PDF article on high resolution microscope sample stages​​​​​​​

Piezo Nanopositioning / Scanning Stages

PI offers a variety of piezo nanopositioning/scanning stages that can be integrated into motorized XY stages. For example, the P-545P Inano® or P-541 piezo nanopositioner is available in various configurations that enable her XY and XYZ movements with nanometer and subnanometer resolution.

The P-545 PInano® piezo nanopositioning & scanning stage is compatible with the above mentioned long travel XY stages. The P-545 comes in XY and XYZ configurations with 200µm travel range. A high-speed version for particle tracking (70µm travel) is also offered. A state of the art multi-axis controller is included.

The P-736 PInano® piezo Z insert, provides nanometer precision motion over 200µm in vertical direction. It is available with a small aperture for slides and a large aperture for well plates. A controller is included.