x-z-θ stage controller
 

An inexpensive x-z-θ sample stage was constructed and tested. This stage can be used with an FT-IR to perform transmission measurements at different points on the samples at different incident angles with 80 μm special resolution in the x-z directions and 1-degree accuracy in the angle θ. The mechanical part of the stage was constructed by using stepper motors removed from old computer floppy disk drives. A software program was developed to control this stage using Visual Basic.

The user interface of the x-z-θ stage controller software. The program allows the user to move the sample stage by clicking on-screen buttons, using keyboard arrow keys, or directly entering the new location coordinates. The user can save the locations and easily repeat the measurements on saved locations.

Photgraphs of the x-z-θ stage (top) showing moving directions and placement in the FTIR sample compartment and (bottom) a closer view of the mechanical parts