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Maintenance
4.3. Poling the Piezo Actuator
Piezo actuators undergo a process called "poling", where they are subjected to a high electric field which
creates a charge imbalance in their structure. This charge imbalance is what causes expansion in response
to an applied voltage. If the QNP3 stage is subjected to elevated temperatures or left idle for a long period of
time, the piezo actuator will gradually de-pole and return to a neutral state. If the QNP3 stage has been
exposed to temperatures above 85° C or left idle for several weeks it can be easily re-poled to its fully
functioning state using the following procedure:
1. Connect the stage to its drive electronics in accordance with the procedures in
2. Enable the stage in open-loop (servo off mode) at 0 V.
3. Drive the stage to 150 V. Hold for 10 seconds.
4. Drive the stage back to 0 V.
5. Resume normal operation.
36
Chapter 4
QNP3 Hardware Manual
Chapter
3.
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