Push/Pull Magnetostrictive Linear Actuator

A proposed "kinematic inchworm"-type linear actuator would move a mass as large as 2 kg along rails, with lengthwise position controllable in increments as small as 50 nm. The actuator could be operated in microgravity or in normal Earth gravitation and at any temperature from ambient down to cryogenic. The actuator could be used, for example, to position an optical assembly precisely on a long interferometer arm, as a translation stage for a scanning tunneling microscope, or as a translation stage for inspecting integrated-circuit chips.