A new large motorized rotary air bearing has been added to the existing families of PIglide air bearing rotary Source: PIstages available from PI (Physik Instrumente).

The A-688 stage provides extremely high resolution and geometric performance. The angular resolution is 0.0015 µrad (0.00003 arcsec), and flatness and eccentricity are specified better than 175 nm and 300 nm, respectively, made possible by absolute encoders and low-cogging frameless and slotless torque motors. The A-688 rotary stage can be used in any orientation and with no wear or required maintenance or lubrication,

Air-bearings have no rolling or sliding elements and deliver frictionless, non-contact motion, resulting in negligible reversal error, better flatness, and minimal wobble and eccentricity. All these are ideal prerequisites for applications such as inspection and metrology, calibration and scanning of high-end parts (infrared and precision optics, turbine blades, shafts and bearings) in industries like aerospace, aircraft, automotive, semiconductors and photonics.