PI has introduced a new microscope stage family designed for democratizing the advantages of ultrasonic piezo motor drive systems in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. The U-781 XY stage provides 128x86mm travel, is equipped with 10nm resolution linear encoders for direct position measurement at the platform, and is compatible with inverted microscopes of the four leading microscope manufacturers. U-781 includes a high-performance 2-axis motion controller and joystick and offers interfaces to common microscopy software tools, such as µ-Manager, MatLab, LabView, Python, and Nikon NIS Elements.
PI's patented ultrasonic direct-drive motors feature millisecond responsiveness and provide a wide dynamic velocity range – from <1µm/sec to >100mm/sec, with jerk-free, smooth motion.
An advantage over conventional drive systems is the drift-free self-locking design that clamps the stage down once a target position has been reached. The stiff piezo-ceramic direct drive avoids servo jitter, which can occur with electromagnetic linear direct drive motors due to insufficient damping or amplifier noise.
A large aperture and many adapter plates allow for the use of microscope slides, well plates and petri dishes. An optional P-736 PInano Z stage or P-545 XYZ piezo flexure nanopositioning stage can be added for applications such as fast focus, single molecule tracking or optical trapping.
A controller with extensive software support and a joystick are included in the package. A comprehensive software package is included: drivers for LabVIEW, dynamic libraries for Windows and Linux, MATLAB, µManager, Andor iQ. Interfaces include USB, SPI, RS-232, and analog.