A stepper motor is an electromagnetic driving system that moves around a particular reproduceable step angle due to defined wiring and triggering of windings (phases).
A quasi-continuous rotation is achieved owing to the stepper motor control that triggers the phases. Rotation speed depends directly on frequency of triggering / drive. The smallest possible resolution of positioning depends on the motor as well as on the type of drive. Commercial stepper motors allow resolutions from 200 up to 1000 steps per revolution.However resolution can be considerably increased by electronic micro-stepping. The advantage of a stepper motor compared with other electric drives is that expensive encoders or glass scales are not required. For reproduceable positioning however a loss of steps must be excluded because a feedback of the stepper motor`s position does not follow. The reason for loss of steps is often an incorrectly designed drive unit where frequencies of triggering / drive, accelerations or irregular ranges of capacities occur that are too high.

 

IN-VACUUM motorized stage simplify the engineers design and eliminate the use of feed-throughs that generally generate particulates. To limit outgassing and maintain a desired vacuum level, material and components used inside the vacuum must be carefully selected, prepared and conditioned. Together with MICOS, PHYTRON ensures such vacuum compatibility.

For most of our IN-VACUUM stages , PHYTRON offers two different grades, a High vacuum to 10-6 torr and Ultra-High vacuum to 10-9 torr. For each grade; bearings, lubricants, adhesives, coatings, insulation and material cleaning, handling and packaging is used. Due to its simple design, PHYTRON stepping motor is used as the drive for all our IN-VACUUM stages.