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Miniature linear encoder designed for vacuum applications

Heidenhain Corp. offers Numerik Jena’s LIK 2 optical linear encoder series, suitable for high- and ultrahigh-vacuum applications in which motion feedback is required inside the vacuum chamber. This small, noncontact encoder system, designed for environments with 10-9 mbar of pressure, has an option for being nonmagnetic.

The encoder has a 20-micron grating period, and the graduation is applied to either a glass or steel scale substrate. The graduation can be ordered with several accuracy grades from +/- 5 to +/- 1 micron per meter. The scanning units come with a vacuum-prepared cable and connector for inside the vacuum chamber and a normal cable with signal processing electronics in the connector for outside the vacuum chamber.