Simulation of dynamics-coupling in piezoelectric tube scanners by reduced order finite element analysis

Piezoelectric tube scanners are widely used in scanning probe microscopes to position the sample or the probe. Fast and accurate scanning requires the suppression of dominant low-frequency resonances as well as the compensation of dynamics-coupling effects. The present article gives a detailed description of the fully coupled tube scanner dynamics over a wide frequency range modeled by finite element (FE) analysis using the commercially available software package ANSYS. The effect of a sample mass attached to the top of the tube is investigated by considering its added mass and local stiffening. A model order reduction scheme is applied to obtain a low order model that describes the lateral and vertical deflections as well as the voltage induced on quadrant electrodes. Comparison to experimental data demonstrates a good agreement for both the full FE model and reduced order model. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.