PicoQ^® Sensor Technology
Ultra-low Position Noise
Outstanding Accuracy
>>Extended Cable Lengths without Performance Loss
No Performance Loss in Vacuum

Additional Information
Measuring Atomic Steps
Sub-Nanometer Motion
Measuring Surface Roughness
High Resolution Sensors
Nanopositioning Accuracy

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Extended Cable Lengths without Performance Loss

An unpublicized problem with capacitive position sensors for piezo nanopositioners is that their calibration and resolution are dependent on cable length. This problem limits the versatility of any piezo nanopositioner that contains a capacitive sensor for feedback control, and can be a major drawback for both research and OEM applications. PicoQ^® sensor technology, used exclusively by Mad City Labs, is not affected by cable length. Mad City Labs piezo nanopositioning systems can have custom cable lengths and the cables can easily be extended by adding standard, well-shielded commercial extension cables. Mad City Labs piezo nanopositioning systems with PicoQ^® sensor technology also do not require costly signal conditioning boxes.

The following measurement confirms that piezo nanopositioning systems with PicoQ^® sensor technology maintain low position noise after the addition of extension cables. In the experiment, the position noise of the piezo nanopositioning system was measured with the standard cable length of 6 feet [1.8 m]. Noise measurements were repeated after adding 9 foot [2.8 m] commercially available cables to extend the cable length to a total of 24 feet [7.3 m] and 42 feet [12.8 m]. The difference between the measurements at different cable lengths was negligible, showing that cable length does not affect the performance of piezo nanopositoining systems with PicoQ^® sensor technology.

position noise spectrum of 200um nanopositioning system with various cable lengths

Position noise spectrum of a 200 micron range nanopositioning system with PicoQ^® sensor technology. Three experiments were performed with the standard cable length of 6 ft [1.8 m] and with additional extension cables adding up to total cable lengths of 24 feet [7.3 m] and 42 feet [12.8 m].