Piezo

We mounted one of the broadband dialectric mirrors used in the interferometer on a translational stage with a micrometer screw. This stage had a piezo stack, which would allow us to move the stage electronically. With the piezo stage we are able to make adjustments as fine as 1 micrometer in either direction. The Piezoelectric Controller works based on the piezoelectric effect. This is the effect whereby a certain type of crystal expands when subjected to an electric field. The amount of expansion is usually very small, but can be controlled extremely finely by changing the strength of the electric field. Therefore, this type of piezo material is very good to use in applications like this when very high precision is needed. Our piezo stage is controlled by a ThorLabs T-Cube Piezo Controller (Model Number TPZ001). This is a driver that is capable of delivering up to 150V of drive voltage to the piezo. It works in conjunction with the T-Cube Strain Gauge Reader (Model Number TSG001). This is a strain gauge and provides a reading of the position of the piezo stack. Both of these cubes connect to the computer via USB and can be controllable remotely via the computer [1].

References

1. ThorLabs user manual