A method of precise calibration for piezoelectrical actuators

Abstract

Piezoelectrical actuators are very useful for making translations over distance less than 10 µm. One of the most important applications of such piezo actuators is the scanning tunnelling microscopy and the related scanning probe microscopies because atomic scale distances have to be measured and controlled in scanning probe microscopies applications. Especially, tube shaped piezoelectrical actuators have been widely used for such purposes. In this study, a piezotube scanner is calibrated at three stages. First calibration was done by using interferometer. At the other two stages Scanning Tunnelling Microscope was used for measurement.