Aston, PA -- Vacuum preloaded air bearings from New Way** provide greater stiffness and stability in ultra-precision applications. Because these bearings hold themselves down while gliding at a predetermined height above the guide surface, they allow even lightly loaded stages to operate at a high stiffness with fast damping.

Vacuum preloaded air bearings are more economical in many applications because they do not require two parallel flat guide surfaces. They are technically superior in that both "x" and "y" axes can be supported by a single bearing plane, eliminating the need for stacked linear axes. The ability to adjust the vacuum and air pressure allows for optimum flying height and stiffness.

Also, the adjustability of film thickness can be used for focusing, squaring and sub-microinch vertical positioning over a range of several thousandths of an inch.

New Way** vacuum preloaded air bearings eliminate pitch and roll errors inherent in stacked axes, and reduce stack height and Abbe errors. Use of a flexture mount provides equal stiffness in both directions with a low pivot point. Because there is no stick-slip type friction in the flexture mount, even the smallest amount of angular adjustment is possible.

Vacuum preloaded air bearings are ideal in many high-precision applications, including: lithography, microscopes; testing and repair of chips; precision alignment and focusing of mirrors and lenses; and depth of field and squaring adjustments.

New Way Machine Components Inc. has been an innovator in the development of fluid film bearings since 1984, and in 1995 was a recipient of an R&D 100 award for the most technology significant new product of that year.