September 12, 2016 – Thorlabs has announced the release of a line of XR-Series cross roller bearing, aluminum-bodied translation stages. The initial release includes both rear- and side-actuated 1” travel stages and all components needed to have left- or right-handed X, XY, XZ, YZ, and XYZ configurations. A dovetail feature is incorporated into the design for stacking; it could also be used to provide custom mounting options. When stacking two stages, coarse positional alignment in the axis perpendicular to stage travel is achieved by sliding the dovetail along the mating dovetail prior to lockdown.
Specifically, the resulting products provide
• Less than 150 µrad of Angular Deviation in Pitch and Yaw • Dovetail Stacking System • Side or End Actuation with Conversion Between the Two Options • Left- or Right-Handed Multi-Axis Configurations • Blind 1/4”-20 (M6) Tapped Holes on the Moving World • Cross Roller Bearings
A 2” travel option, which will be compatible with the dovetail stacking feature on the 1” stage, will be available late 2016. As a result of the direct interchangeability between the 1” and 2” variants, it will be possible to build multi- axis solutions that combine both translation range options without the purchase of additional adapters.
In addition to the standard versions available on the web, these stages can be customized to accommodate custom footprints, deck heights, and hole patterns.
