Mechanism design of a compact XYZ parallel flexure stage

This paper reports on the mechanism design of a compact XYZ parallel flexure sage. First, a new bridge-principle amplifier is proposed by a serial connection of two fundamental bridge amplifiers. Then, a comparison study of three displacement amplifiers in terms of one-stage, two-stage, and three-stage amplifiers is conducted by performing finite-element analysis (FEA) simulations. Owing to a larger amplification ratio, the two-stage amplifier is then employed to devise an XYZ parallel stage with decoupled motion. The stage is driven by three PZTs. By connecting the actuators with flexure output platform using the amplifiers, an XYZ stage with decoupled motions in X, Y and Z axes is obtained. The performance of the designed stage is verified by carrying out several FEA simulation studies.