Application of micro-displacement characteristics to nanoscale positioning

Nanoscale positioning of table is frequently required for industrial applications and there have been developed many positioning methods. However, there are still left a lot of problems to be investigated related to dynamic range, accuracy fluctuating by thermal expansion, physical vibration and so on. In this study, using the tangential micro-displacement characteristics between the contact surfaces under a tangential force, a basic idea is proposed for developing the nanoscale positioning system. To confirm this idea, the experiments were carried out by measuring the differential displacement between a rough brass surface and a smooth ceramic surface under various forms of cyclic tangential force. The results obtained in this study are summarized as follows: (1) When the tangential force does not exceed the critical friction force, no effective micro-displacement of the positioning block could be seen. (2) However, when maximum of the tangential force exceeds the critical friction force, effective micro-displacement was obtained as 3.3 nm after every cycle of tangential force.