Number 12, February
2013
What's Here for You:
Vibration Isolation News is designed to keep our customers and friends up to date on the latest products and applications designed to facilitate better measurements and improved nanomanufacturing. We are an OEM supplier to leading manufacturers of scanning probe microscopes, micro-hardness testers and other sensitive instruments, and we have users at more than 200 leading universities and private and government laboratories in 42 countries.
INDEX
1. Turning
the tables on Vibration
2. Featured
Product: The NEW CM-1 Compact AND Large Capacity
3. Happy
Birthday Minus K Technology, Inc.
4. Minus K is a Veteran Owned California
Certified Small Business
5. Upcoming Nanotechnology
Meetings and Webinars
6. We want to hear from YOU
Minus
K Technology currently builds
vibration
isolators to handle payloads from
3 lbs to 10,000 lbs (per isolator).
When you need the best isolation for your dollar.
Our
patented technology will provide you true 1/2 Hz performance.
Give
us your challenge.
As
a method for vibration isolation, the traditional
air table is now being challenged by the more compact
effective Negative-Stiffness vibration isolators,
developed by Minus K Technology
Excerpted from Cleanroom Technology Magazine:
For almost 40 years pneumatic vibration isolators - air tables - have I been the mainstay fur stabilizing industry and academia's most critical micro-engineering instrumentation. But just as technology has been migrating steadily from micro to nano, so has the need for more precise vibration isolation in microelectronics fabrication, industrial laser/ optical systems and biological research.
These so-called "passive system" air tables are now being seriously challenged by the newer Negative-Stiffness vibration isolators. Negative-Stiffness isolation is rapidly gaining popularity in industrial and laboratory environments, mainly because of its ability to isolate vibration effectively in diverse and challenging environments.
Because of their very high isolation efficiencies, Negative-Stiffness vibration isolation systems enable vibration-sensitive instruments, such as scanning probe microscopes, micro-hardness testers, profilers and scanning electron microscopes, to operate in harsh conditions and severe vibration environments that would not be practical with top-performance air tables and other pneumatic isolation systems.
Negative-Stiffness isolators employ a different and completely mechanical concept in low-frequency vibration isolation. Vertical-motion isolation is provided by a stiff spring that supports a weight load, combined with a Negative-Stiffness mechanism. The net vertical stiffness is made very low without affecting the static load-supporting capability of the spring.
Low Hertz perturbations: An air table will amplify vibrations in a typical range of 2-7Hz; this is because of the natural frequencies at which air tables resonate. All isolators will amplify at their resonant frequency, and then they will start isolating. So with an air table, any vibration in that range could not only fail to be mitigated, it could be amplified. The low cycle perturbations would just come straight through to the instrument.
Negative-Stiffness isolators resonate at 0.5Hz, At this frequency there is almost no energy present. It would be very unusual to find a significant vibration at 0.5 Hz.
Image clarity: Negative-Stiffness vibration isolation can reduce vibration noise levels in Atomic Force Microscopes, for example, by a factor of 2 to 3 when compared with top-performance air tables. This is significant for noise levels in the sub-Angstrom range. This results in clearer images and features not discernible with pneumatic isolation systems.
Severe vibration environments: As nano-cquiprnent becomes more prevalent, lab sites are being set up in much more severe vibration-prone environments, such as upper floors of buildings and cleanrooms. Such severe vibration locations are too extreme for pneumatic isolators to do their job effectively. But Negative-Stiffness isolators perform well in such environments, producing much better images and data than can be obtained with even the best high-performance air tables.
Maintenance and expense: Because Negative-Stiffness isolators utilize simple elastic structures and viscoelastic materials that deform, their isolation performance does not degrade with micromotions typical of lab floors and fabrication rooms, as do conventional pneumatic isolators. Negative-Stiffness isolators are also comparable in price to air isolators or lower priced for many applications.
As industrial researchers and universities continue to broaden their nanotech work, necessitating more sensitive equipment and expanded lab facilities, vibration-handicapped environments will become more prevalent, and a better vibration isolation solution will be required than that provided by air tables for the past half-century. It appears Negative-Stiffness vibration isolation will fill that void.
Check
out the whole article at:
https://minusk.com/content/in-the-news/Cleanroom_Technology_0412.html
Featured
Product: The CM-1 Minus K's new Compact Large
Capacity Isolator
The new CM-1 is a compact high capacity, low-frequency negative-stiffness isolator. As with all Minus K isolators, they are completely passive and use no air or electricity. The isolators can be combined into multi isolator systems to support heavy payloads while taking up very little room themselves.
The CM-1 isolators can be placed on pedestals to bring them to an appropriate height to retrofit your existing air table, enabling you to keep your existing table top and achieve much better isolation.
The CM-1 isolators come in several capacity ranges to match your vibration-sensitive instruments such as SPMs (AFMS, STMs, etc), micro-hardness testers, profilers, interferometers, electron microscopes, or other imaging systems.
If
needed, the CM-1 isolators can be customized to
achieve user specific needs. Eg., different horizontal
and vertical frequencies, damping, etc. They can
also be made cleanroom and vacuum. compatible.
| Load Capacities (approximate): | ||
| Model | Payload Range* | Price** |
| 200CM-1 | 50 - 200 lbs (22.7 - 90.7 kg) |
$3,475 |
| 500CM-1 | 200 - 500 lbs (90.7 - 226.8
kg) |
$3,525 |
| 800CM-1 | 500 - 800 lbs (226.8 - 362.9
kg) |
$3,675 |
| *Contact Minus K for custom payload ranges. |
**For International Orders, A Handling
Fee of 5% is Added. |
|
Specifications:
Weight:
Approximately 26 lb (11.8 kg)
Dimensions:
7.875" W x 7.875" D x 8.5"
H (200mm W x 200mm D x 216mm H)
Performance
- Horizontal
frequencies are weight dependent.
- Horizontal
frequency of 0.5 Hz is achieved at the upper
limit of the payload range.
- Vertical frequency is tunable to 0.5 Hz throughout the payload range.
Minus
K Technology is 20 Years Old
Minus K® Technology, Inc. was founded in 1993 to develop, manufacture and market our state-of-the-art vibration isolation products based on our patented negative-stiffness technology.
Dr. David L. Platus is President, Founder and is the principal inventor of the technology. Prior to founding Minus K® Technology he worked in the nuclear, aerospace and defense industries conducting and directing analysis and design projects in structural-mechanical systems. He became an independent consultant in 1988. Dr. Platus holds over 20 patents related to shock and vibration isolation.
The Minus K® products, formerly sold under the trade name Nano-K®, represent an important enabling technology. By reducing building and floor vibrations to unprecedented levels these systems enable vibration sensitive instruments and equipment to perform at unprecedented levels. They are used in a broad spectrum of applications including nanotechnology, biological sciences, semiconductors, materials research, zero-g simulation of spacecraft, and high-end audio. Minus K® is an OEM supplier to leading manufactures of scanning probe microscopes, micro-hardness testers and other vibration-sensitive instruments and equipment.
We are happy to celebrate this milestone of 20 years in business with our customers and friends.
News: Minus K Technology Is Veteran Owned and Certified California
Small Business
Minus K is a Veteran Owned Small Business.and
a certified State of California Small Business. All our products
are proudly made in the USA.
Comments/Suggestions: Applications in New Fields or Features of Interest to You in Our Next Newsletter:
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars:
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