Micro Manipulation

Micro-manipulators are positioning tools used to move samples under microscopes.  They can be configured to move in multiple axes, each of which must be controllable with the highest precision possible.  The inherently smooth and controllable motion of piezo ceramics makes them the perfect tool for the job.  As such, piezo stages, grippers, and stack actuators are commonly used in combination to create these micro-manipulators.

The Aureka® Micro-manipulator from Jena based Aura Optik GmbH, is a platform for micro-sampling, designed as a combination microscope and micromanipulator.

In combination with the Zeiss Axio.ZoomV16 microscope; tasks in the fields of life science and chemistry are completed easily. N series piezo actuators in this system offer a total travel of up to 500 µm. The micro-manipulators are operated simply by using 3D joysticks.