Features

• 50 mm (1.97") Travel Range
• Rugged, Thermally Matched Steel Construction with Heavy-Duty Crossed-Roller Bearings 
• Moving Platform has Thirteen 1/4"-20 (M6) Taps
• Trapezoidal Lead Screw Stepper Motor for Cleaner, More Wear-Resistant Operation
• Adapters Available for Breadboard Mounting and XY, XZ, and XYZ Arrangements
• Offered With or Without a Linear Optical Encoder

Thorlabs' 50 mm Travel Motorized Translation Stages are designed for applications that require stability, long travel, and high load capacity. Horizontal and vertical loads up to 48 kg (105 lbs) and 10 kg (22 lbs) are supported, respectively. Each stage's moving platform is equipped with thirteen 1/4"-20 (M6) taps for compatibility with standard optomechanics.

The moving platform contains holes for alignment pins that ensure orthogonality when the stage is stacked with other stages or connected to our accessories. The rigidity of the thermally matched, all-steel construction, along with the heavy-duty crossed-roller bearings, provides precision motion and long life, even in less-than-ideal conditions.

The LNR502(/M) non-encoded translation stage offers a minimum repeatable incremental movement of 1 µm and ±3.9 µm of bidirectional repeatability. For even more precise movement, the LNR502E(/M) Encoded Translation Stage combines a linear optical encoder and everything included with the LNR502(/M) stage to achieve a minimum repeatable incremental movement of 0.1 µm and improved bidirectional repeatability of ±0.75 µm.

Separate Encoder Option
The ENCLNR50 Optical Encoder can be mounted to the non-encoded LNR502(/M) translation stages (as well as the LNR502E(/M) encoded stages) and provides positional information in either inches or millimeters to a resolution of 1.0 µm and an accuracy of 10.0 µm.

Mounting Adapters and Stage Combinations
Thorlabs manufactures three adapter plates to maximize the mounting flexibility of these stages. The LNR50P2(/M) Right-Angle Bracket and LNR50P3(/M) Spacer Plate allow for easy configuration of left- or right-handed XY, XZ, or XYZ systems. A base plate, which provides sufficient clearance between the stage and the work surface for operation of the DRV250 stepper motor actuator, is included with each translation stage. 

Included Actuator
The translation stages sold here include a DRV250 stepper motor actuator. For applications requiring fine positioning, the removable static pin that provides a stop for the stage's motor drive can be replaced by a piezo drive. Combining the standard stepper motor actuator with a piezo drive allows for both long travel and fine adjustment. Both open-loop and closed-loop piezo drives are available with 20 µm to 100 µm of travel and resolution as low as 5 nm.

Controller Options
For stepper motors such as the one included with the LNR502(/M) and LNR502E(/M) translation stages, Thorlabs recommends using a BSC201, BSC202, or BSC203 Stepper Motor Controller. Any of these controllers can be purchased separately.

Thorlabs also manufactures the MTS50-Z8 Motorized Translation Stage, which features a built-in actuator and reduced overall package size.

Please refer to the descriptions below if you wish to use your own controller with these TravelMax™ motorized translation stages.

DRV250 Stepper Motor Connector Pins

High-Density DE-15 Male Connector

Click to Enlarge
High-Density DE-15 Male Connector

Software

Kinesis Version 1.14.53

The Kinesis Software Package, which includes a GUI for control of Thorlabs' Kinesis system controllers.

Also Available:

• Communications Protocol

Figure 58A  Kinesis GUI Screen

Thorlabs offers the Kinesis software package to drive our wide range of motion controllers. The software can be used to control devices in the Kinesis family, which covers a wide variety of motion controllers ranging from small, low-powered, single-channel drivers (such as the K-Cubes^®) to high-power, multi-channel benchtop units and modular 19" rack nanopositioning systems (the MMR60x Rack System).

The Kinesis Software features .NET controls which can be used by 3rd party developers working in the latest C#, Visual Basic, LabVIEW™, or any .NET compatible languages to create custom applications. Low-level DLL libraries are included for applications not expected to use the .NET framework and APIs are included with each install. A Central Sequence Manager supports integration and synchronization of all Thorlabs motion control hardware.

By providing this common software platform, Thorlabs has ensured that users can mix and match any of our motion control devices in a single application, while only having to learn a single set of software tools. In this way, it is perfectly feasible to combine any of the controllers from single-axis to multi-axis systems and control all from a single, PC-based unified software interface.

The software package allows two methods of usage: graphical user interface (GUI) utilities for direct interaction with and control of the controllers 'out of the box', and a set of programming interfaces that allow custom-integrated positioning and alignment solutions to be easily programmed in the development language of choice. 

Motorized Linear Translation Stages

Thorlabs' motorized linear translation stages are offered in a range of maximum travel distances, from a stage with 20 µm of piezo translation to our 600 mm direct drive stage. Many of these stages can be assembled in multi-axis configurations, providing XY or XYZ translation. For fiber coupling applications, please see our multi-axis stages, which offer finer adjustment than our standard motorized translation stages. In addition to motorized linear translation stages, we offer motorized rotation stages and goniometers. We also offer manual translation stages.

Piezo Stages

These stages incorporate piezoelectric elements in a variety of drive mechanisms. ORIC^® stages incorporate piezo inertia drives that use "stick-slip" friction properties to obtain extended travel ranges. Our Nanoflex™ translation stages use standard piezo chips along with manual actuators. Elliptec^® stages use resonant piezo motors to push and pull the moving platform through resonant elliptical motion. Our LPS710E z-axis stage features a mechanically amplified piezo design and includes a matched controller.

Piezoelectric Stages
Product Family	ORIC® PDXZ1 Closed-Loop 4.5 mm Vertical Stage	ORIC® PD2 Open-Loop 5 mm Stage	ORIC® PDX2 Closed-Loop 5 mm Stage	ORIC® PDX4 Closed-Loop 12 mm Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	4.5 mm	5 mm		12 mm
Speed	1 mm/s (Typ.)a	10 mm/s (Typ. Max)b	8 mm/s (Typ.)c	15 mm/s (Typ.)a,c
Drive Type	Piezoelectric Inertia Drive
Possible Axis Configurations	Z	X, XY, XYZ
Mounting Surface Size	45.0 mm x 42.0 mm	13.0 mm x 13.0 mm		13.0 mm x 23.0 mm
Additional Details

• Specified at 20 kHz Driving Frequency and in Closed-Loop Mode
• Specified using PDXC and PDXC2 Benchtop Controllers. For performance when controlled with a KIM001 or KIM101 K-Cube Controller, see the Specs tab of the PD2 or PD3 stage presentation.
• Specified using PDXC and PDXC2 Benchtop Controllers.
  
  

Piezoelectric Stages
Product Family	ORIC® PD1 Open-Loop 20 mm Stage	ORIC® PD1D Open-Loop 20 mm Monolithic XY Stage	ORIC® PDX1 Closed-Loop 20 mm Stage	ORIC® PDX1A Closed-Loop 20 mm Stage Low-Profile	ORIC® PD3 Open-Loop 50 mm Stage	ORIC® PDX3 Closed-Loop 50 mm Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	20 mm				50 mm
Speed	3 mm/s (Typ. Max)a		20 mm/s (Typ. Max)c	10 mm/s (Typ.)b	10 mm/sd	10 mm/s (Typ. Max)b
Drive Type	Piezoelectric Inertia Drive
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY, XYZ	XY, XYZ	X, XY, XYZ	X, XY, XYZ	X, XY, XYZ	X, XY, XYZ
Mounting Surface Size	30 mm x 30 mm				80 mm x 30 mm
Additional Details

• Specified using KIM101 K-Cube Controller.
• Specified at 20 kHz driving frequency and in closed-loop mode.
• Specified using PDXC and PDXC2 Benchtop Controllers.
• Specified using PDXC and PDXC2 Benchtop Controllers. For performance when controlled with a KIM001 or KIM101 K-Cube Controller, see the Specs tab of the PD2 or PD3 stage presentation.
  
  

Piezoelectric Stages
Product Family	Nanoflex™ 20 µm Stage with 5 mm Actuator	Nanoflex™ 25 µm Stage with 1.5 mm Actuator	Compact Modular XRN25X 25 mm Stage	Modular XR25X 25 mm Stage	Elliptec® 28 mm Stage	Elliptec® 60 mm Stage	LPS710E 1.1 mm Vertical Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	20 µm + 5 mm Manual	25 µm + 1.5 mm Manual	25 mm		28 mm	60.0 mm	1.1 mm
Maximum Velocity	-		≤3.6 mm/mina		180 mm/s	90 mm/s	-
Drive Type	Piezo with Manual Actuator		Piezoelectric Inertia Drive		Resonant Piezoelectric Motor		Amplified Piezo
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY, XYZ		X, XY, YZ, XZ, XYZ		X		Z
Mounting Surface Size	75 mm x 75 mm	30 mm x 30 mm	85.0 mm x 50.7 mm	110.0 mm x 75.7 mm	15 mm x 15 mm		21 mm x 21 mm
Additional Details

• For a given set of settings in Kinesis, while travelling in one direction, each device's step size may vary by up to 20% and is not normally repeatable. Due to the open loop design, component variance, change of direction and application conditions may further increase the scale of the variance.
• The PIA25 piezo inertia actuator is ideal for set-and-hold applications that require high-resolution relative positioning.
• For position readouts with 10.0 µm accuracy, we offer the ENCXR25 optical encoder (sold separately).

Stepper Motor Stages

These translation stages feature removable or integrated stepper motors and long travel ranges up to 300 mm. Many of these stages either have integrated multi-axis capability (PLSXY) or can be assembled into multi-axis configurations (PLSX, LNR Series, NRT Series, and LTS Series stages). The MLJ150 stage also offers high load capacity vertical translation.

Stepper Motor Stages
Product Family	PLSX with and without PLST(/M) Top Plate 1" Stage	PLSXY with and without PLST(/M) Top Plate 1" Stage	LNR Series 25 mm Stage	LNR Series 50 mm Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	1"		25 mm	50 mm
Maximum Velocity	7.0 mm/s		2.0 mm/s	50 mm/s
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY		X, XY, XYZ	X, XY, XYZ
Mounting Surface Size	3" x 3"		60 mm x 60 mm	100 mm x 100 mm
Additional Details

Stepper Motor Stages
Product Family	NRT Series 100 mm Stage	NRT Series 150 mm Stage	LTS Series 150 mm Stage	LTS Series 300 mm Stage	MLJ250 50 mm Vertical Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	100 mm	150 mm	150 mm	300 mm	50 mm
Maximum Velocity	30 mm/s		50 mm/s		3.0 mm/s
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY, XYZ		X, XY, XYZ		Z
Mounting Surface Size	84 mm x 84 mm		100 mm x 90 mm		148 mm x 131 mm
Additional Details

DC Servo Motor Stages

Thorlabs offers linear translation stages with removable or integrated DC servo motors. These stages feature low profiles and many can be assembled in multi-axis configurations.

DC Servo Motor Stages
Product Family	MT Series 12 mm Stages	PT Series 25 mm Stages	MTS Series 25 mm Stage	MTS Series 50 mm Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	12 mm	25 mm	25 mm	50 mm
Maximum Velocity	2.6 mm/s		2.4 mm/s
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY, XYZ		X, XY, XYZ
Mounting Surface Size	61 mm x 61 mm	101.6 mm x 76.2 mm	43 mm x 43 mm
Additional Details

DC Servo Motor Stages
Product Family	M30 Series 30 mm Stage	M30 Series 30 mm Monolithic XY Stage	M150 Series 150 mm XY Stage	KVS30 30 mm Vertical Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	30 mm		150 mm	30 mm
Maximum Velocity	2.4 mm/s		X-Axis: 170 mm/s Y-Axis: 230 mm/s	8.0 mm/s
Possible Axis Configurations	X, Z	XY, XZ	XY	Z
Mounting Surface Size	115 mm x 115 mm		272.4 mm x 272.4 mm	116.2 mm x 116.2 mm
Additional Details

Direct Drive Stages

These low-profile stages feature integrated brushless DC servo motors for high speed translation with zero backlash. When no power is applied, the platforms of these stages have very little inertia and are virtually free running. Hence these stages may not be suitable for applications where the stage's platform needs to remain in a set position when the power is off. We do not recommend mounting these stages vertically.

Direct Drive Stages
Product Family	DDS Series 50 mm Stage	DDS Series 100 mm Stage	DDS Series 220 mm Stage	DDS Series 300 mm Stage	DDS Series 600 mm Stage
Click Photo to Enlarge
Travel	50 mm	100 mm	220 mm	300 mm	600 mm
Maximum Velocity	500 mm/s		300 mm/s	400 mm/s	400 mm/s
Possible Axis Configurations	X, XY		X, XY	X	X
Mounting Surface Size	60 mm x 52 mm		88 mm x 88 mm	120 mm x 120 mm
Additional Details