Expanding Nanopositioning Options with Bi-Phase Piezo Motors

Recent developments extend PI's compact inertia-based drive architecture.

SHREWSBURY, Mass., Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PI (Physik Instrumente) is expanding its Bi-Phase Inertia Drive (BIX) technology with new motor architectures for compact, high-precision nanopositioning. Building on the B-421 BIX nanopositioning stages, PI engineers have demonstrated new BIX-based designs for higher-force linear motion, rotary positioning, micrometer screw drives, tip/tilt motion, and cryogenic environments.

BIX uses two synchronized PICMA® multilayer piezo actuators driven by mirrored sawtooth signals — one expanding while the other contracts — rather than the single-actuator design of conventional stick-slip motors. This reduces the effects of piezo hysteresis and increases acceleration at the friction contact point, giving BIX stages precise, repeatable, self-locking motion in a compact footprint.

Extending BIX to New Applications
PI's recent development work shows how the same bi-phase drive principle can be adapted to different mechanical architectures and performance requirements:

• High-force BIX uses a two-sided stator with two friction contacts to approximately double the drive force of the standard one-sided design.
• BIX micrometer screw drives convert the piezo actuators' microscopic motion into rotation of a drive screw, reducing friction losses and increasing available force compared to conventional inertia screw-drive mechanisms.
• 2D-BIX combines four PICMA® piezo stacks with a lever structure to produce two-axis motion, demonstrated in a mirror tip/tilt platform that can operate in both stepping and analog modes.
• Rotary BIX uses dual-sided stators to drive miniature rotary platforms, extending the technology to compact rotational positioning.

BIX designs have also been adapted for cryogenic operation, including a flexure-guided linear stage prototype. Together, these developments show the potential to scale the BIX architecture across a range of motion requirements while retaining the core advantages of the bi-phase drive principle.

For OEM customers, the technology provides a platform for compact, high-precision positioning mechanisms in applications where conventional motorized stage designs are constrained by available space, holding requirements, or mechanical complexity.

More information: Bi-Phase Nanopositioning Motor Applications 

Applications and Industries Served
Photonics, laser and optical alignment, metrology, microscopy, semiconductor instrumentation

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SOURCE Physik Instrumente (PI)