More Info on Mad City Labs Inc

Mad City Labs designs & manufactures nanopositioners, micropositioners and microscopy instruments suitable for photonics, interferometry, life sciences, astronomy, metrology and imaging applications. We offer closed loop piezo nanopositioners, microscope stages, precision micropositoners, RM21® single molecule microscopes, and atomic force microscopes (AFM and NSOM).

Products

Positioning & sensing equipment

Piezo nanopositioners for optical and force microscopy

Ultra-low profile 3 axis nanopositioning system with sub-nanometer precision under closed loop control. Designed for single molecule microscopy, super resolution microscopy and...

Positioning & sensing equipment

Mad-Deck™

The Mad-Deck™ is a versatile stage platform designed for a variety of advanced microscopy techniques. It is ideal for microscopy and imaging applications that require free access...

Microscopes

QS-PLL™ AFM Controller

QS-PLL™ is an atomic force microscope (AFM) controller designed for use with resonant probes, such as tuning forks, and Mad City Labs nanopositioners and micropositioners. The...

Positioning & sensing equipment

MMP Series

The MMP series are precision, stepper motor driven micropositioners with 25mm travel and 95nm step size. Available in 1, 2 or 3 axis models and are modular in design.

Positioning & sensing equipment

Nano-MTA Series

Closed loop piezo nanopositioning system for beam steering. Single and two axis models with up to 10 milliradians of motion per axis. The Nano-MTA has nanoradian resolution and...

Press Releases

Buyer's Guide

Mad360™: Precision rotational positioning system

The rotational motion is bidirectional and continuous 360°. Minimum rotational steps of 1 milliradian and capable of speeds up to 20 rotations/second, the Mad360™ is a versatile...

Articles

FIGURE 1. The MICI80-KMI53 microscopy stage from Piezosystem Jena, available in both open- and closed-loop versions, can be used for positioning or scanning with sub-nanometer resolution. The ultrastiff flexure design drives the digital micrometer heads with a resolution of 1 µm, a manual range of motion of 25 mm in the x-y axes, and a piezo-based range of motion of 80 µm. A proprietary frame design links the x-y axes in a single piece of metal for superior orthogonality and flatness. A special coil spring system delivers a constant force throughout the manual travel range of the stage, allowing preload optimization over the entire range of travel for extremely low drifting behavior.

Positioning, Support & Accessories

PRODUCT FOCUS: NANOPOSITIONERS: Nanopositioning equipment answers the call from the world of the very small

Manufacturers have made strides in stages and flexure design to enable fast, accurate, nanometer-scale motion control in high-resolution microscopy and other short-travel applications...

FIGURE 1. In the development of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a nanopositioning system created by PI features a high-precision, 6-axis robotic hexapod, used to align the telescope’s 18 large mirror segments.

Software & Accessories

Evolving nanopositioning systems expand application base

As biotechnology, laser processing, astronomy, and other applications advance, the evolution of nanometer-precise motion control and positioning with high throughput will be crucial...

Positioning, Support & Accessories

Mad City Labs rotational positioning system offers bidirectional rotational motion

The Mad360 rotational stage for use in alignment, metrology, magnetic tweezer, and optical microscopy applications offers bidirectional rotational motion and continuous 360°.

FIGURE 1. A Nano-MTA2 nanopositioner is commanded with a 25 nrad peak-to-peak square wave at 1 Hz; the external angular-displacement measurement (a) and position-sensor output voltage (b) are shown as a function of time.

Test & Measurement

Nanopositioning: Piezo nanopositioners are at the core of nanoscale instrument design

Nanoscale systems from atomic-force microscopes to the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) achieve their feats through piezo nanopositioning.

A nanopositioning stage is in use by the National Institute of Health’s Computer Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation center at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) to perform nanometer-resolution long-range tracking during magnetic-force experiments on biological samples. Here, a magnetics stage is mounted on a nanopositioning stage in an inverted optical microscope.

Positioning, Support & Accessories

NANOPOSITIONING EQUIPMENT: Understanding noise at the nanometer scale

Position noise in a nanopositioner as a function of frequency is quantified with the help of a known sine-wave reference signal, allowing scaling to reflect the peak-to-peak noise...

Neuroscience 2015 featured rotating poster presentations in the exhibit hall.

Research

Neuro15 exhibitors meet exacting demands: Part 1

Increasingly, neuroscientists are working with researchers in disciplines such as chemistry and physics. This trend has been noticed by exhibitors at the Society for Neuroscience...

FIGURE 1. The Michelson-Morley experiment was performed on this slab in the basement of a stone dormitory at Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Positioning, Support & Accessories

Positioning equipment - the challenge of building a solid foundation for optics

Stability and precision have been crucial for optics since the 19th century. The birth of holography and other precision laser measurements brought a new generation of equipment...

Positioning, Support & Accessories

Mad City Labs 3D image stabilization system overcomes microscope drift

The Nano-Cyte LC is an image-based, platform-independent stabilization system for live-cell imaging.

FIGURE 1. The cantilever and sharp tip span the tines of a quartz tuning fork in the Akiyama-probe resonant surface-probe sensor. The tines vibrate in an opposing motion while the cantilever vibrates perpendicular to the tine motion.

Positioning, Support & Accessories

NANOPOSITIONING: Piezoelectric nanopositioners forge low-cost atomic force microscope

In the nanopositioning industry, prices continue to fall as resolution, linearity, and reliability improve. Engineers can now use standard optical components and off-the-shelf...