Piezoelectric motor comes with tiny claims

The latest Squiggle motor from New Scale Technologies, is the smallest linear motor on the market, the company announced today. At 1.5 x 1.5mm, the new SQL-1.5 piezoelectric motor is half the size of competing micro-motors. It also offers a 20 gram push force and submicron position resolution, performing ten times better than its closest competitor on both counts.

'The SQL-1.5 opens a whole new range of performance for miniature electronic systems such as phone cameras and medical devices', said New Scale president David Henderson.

'Designers of leading edge mobile devices finally have a precise, reliable linear motor that fits within their size and power budgets'.

'They can add motion - and hence new capabilities - where they were unable to do so before'.

The SQL-1.5 has been designed into next-generation auto focus and optical zoom assemblies by leading camera module developers, who support the top tier handset manufacturers.

Focus and zoom capabilities have become an essential ingredient in the drive to deliver smaller, thinner handsets with the image quality of digital still cameras.

'Even by the most conservative handset sales forecasts, phone cameras alone represent a new market for one billion motors a year', Henderson said.

'The requirements of these cameras can not be met by current motor technologies'.

The SQL-1.5 is also of interest to medical device manufacturers for a new class of implantable drug pumps and micro-valves.

The motor itself is tiny, but its high precision is what enables the most dramatic reduction in overall device size.

It provides more precise valve control, which permits more concentrated medications and therefore smaller fluid reservoirs.

The patented ceramic motor design generates no magnetic fields and can be made of nonferrous materials, making it MRI-safe and image compatible.