Aerotech: motion control and automation for optics and photonics

Simon Smith, European Director of Aerotech claims: "For us, Optatec is an international industry event that aligns very well with our capabilities and solutions for industrial applications in the areas of optoelectronics, fibre optics and laser components. We will be launching our new "small' hexapod at the exhibition, the HEX150. The supporting program with top-class specialist lectures is an excellent knowledge platform and the SPECTARIS workshop and technology park will provide a lot of good industry insight."

Aerotech is a globally recognised specialist for precise motion control and automation since 1970. From standard mechanical positioning stages and control systems to customer-specific automation systems, Aerotech solutions support manufacturing, test and inspection processes in the micron to nanometre range for many well known technology companies, as well as research institutions globally. The company offers many standard servo and piezo nanopositioning systems with comprehensive controls options, but where a standard product will not work, custom specifically engineered options are available together with the necessary engineering design services, as well as software and algorithms for automating the alignment of glass fibres and optical devices.

In many areas, fibre optic technology has become indispensable and photonics applications are growing rapidly. Modern Photonic Integrated Circuit technology, test and measurement technology or illumination and lighting technology for medical applications are hardly conceivable today without the use of optical fibres and photonic devices. With the increasing maturity of the many applications, automated alignment and testing systems are of enormous importance. Automated technologies significantly improve the precision of optical assemblies and at the same time reduce production costs as soon as the number of items increases. The selection and implementation of a suitable positioning system can be decisive for the automated alignment process, for example connection of optical fibres to Photonic Integrated Devices can only be automated through exact positioning and motion control. The motion control technology must allow submicron alignment adjustment in many degrees of freedom. The use of motion kinematics plays an important role here in order to optimise the pre-adjustment of components and finally the alignment of the optical fibres. The use of precision positioning systems ensures optimisation of the optical performance even under difficult space constraints.

Simon Smith emphasises: "Not everyone knows that at Aerotech we have been supporting the telecommunications industry as well as data centres for decades in using fibre optic cables for data transmission. We have products and solutions for the exact positioning of the optical components and software algorithms to minimise the optical losses during alignment of the devices."

See Aerotech at Optatec 2020 in Hall 3.1, Booth 118. Go to the website at www.aerotech.com for further information.