IMS Series

High-Performance Long-Travel Linear Stages

High stiffness, FEM optimized extruded aluminum body avoids thermal bending effects
Preloaded, backlash-free ballscrew drive allows for rapid movement with short step and settling time
Precision recirculating ball bearing slides provide accurate linear motion without ball cage migration

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Overview
Specifications
Ordering
Drawings
Literature & Downloads
Controller
Related Products

The IMS Series linear stage complements the ILS Series by providing longer linear travel ranging from 300 to 600 mm. The IMS stage features a robust design and high performance but without the high cost. The IMS is a cost-effective solution for precision industrial and laboratory applications.

Using the same industry-proven technology as the ILS Series, the IMS Series features an FEM optimized, aluminum extruded body. While high in stiffness, the bending effect caused by different thermal expansion coefficients of the aluminum body and the steel rails is also minimized. Smooth running recirculating ball bearing slides with ball separators provide accurate linear motion and avoid ball cage migration found on linear ball bearings or crossed roller bearings.

A high stiffness, backlash-free and efficient 5 mm pitch ball screw ensures rapid motion with fast step and settling times, minimizes heating, thereby extending the stage life.
Position measurements are read on a 4000 pts/rev. rotary encoder, mounted directly on the ball screw to avoid screw/coupling errors. For more demanding precision positioning requirements, the IMS-CCHA versions are available with a highly interpolated linear scale providing 0.1 µm resolution feedback.

The upper rigid cover prevents damage to the drive train and protects it from dust, debris and other pollutants. IMS stages also feature a motor-end mounted origin for repeatable initialization, limit switches to prevent over travel, and elastomeric end-of-run dampers for smooth emergency braking.

Need Higher Accuracy?

For critical positioning applications, Newport offers micropositioning calibration services. We will create, implement and verify an electronic compensation process to improve the absolute position accuracy of IMS-CCHA stages when commanded by our XPS advanced motion control system. Compensation is performed at 20.0 °C, +/-0.2 °C, for linear and non-linear errors, ensuring accuracy of up to 1 µm + 1 µm/100 mm over center 80% of travel. A certificate of calibration per Newport Metrology Procedure A167 and measured error maps are provided. Click here for complete information.

Design Details

Base Material	Extruded Aluminum
Bearings	Double-row recirculating ball bearings with caged balls
Drive Mechanism	Backlash-free ball screw
Drive Screw Pitch (mm)	5
Feedback	CC, PP: Screw mounted rotary encoder, 4,000 pts/rev, index pulse CCHA: Linear steel scale, 20 µm signal period
Limit Switches	Optical
Origin	Optical, approx. 8 mm from motor side limit
Motor	CC, CCHA: UE511S2 PP: UE56UP, 1 Full step = 20 Encoder pulses; In order to close the loop on the encoder, it is needed to drive these motors in micro-step modus with at least 20 micro-steps per full-step.
Cable (m)	5 (included)

Specifications

	IMS (M-IMS)
	PP	CC	CCHA
Travel Range (mm)	300 to 600
Resolution (µm)	1.25		0.1
Minimum Incremental Motion (µm)	1.25		0.2
Uni-directional Repeatability, Guaranteed, guaranteed¹ (µm)	1.25		0.5
Reversal Value (Hysteresis) (µm)	1.25		0.5
Bi-directional Repeatability, guaranteed¹ (µm)	2.5 or ± 1.25		1.0 or ± 0.5
On-Axis Accuracy, Guaranteed, guaranteed¹ (µm)	15 or ± 7.5		9 or ± 4.5
Maximum Speed (mm/s)	100	200	200
Pitch, guaranteed^1,2 (µrad)³	250 or ± 125
Yaw, guaranteed^1,2 (µrad)³	200 or ± 100
MTBF (h)	20,000
Weight [lb (kg)]	IMS300: 37.4 (17); IMS400: 41 (18.7); IMS500: 45 (20.3); IMS600: 48.4 (22)

¹ Shown are peak to peak, guaranteed specifications or ± half the value as sometimes shown. For the definition of typical specifications which are about 2X better than the guaranteed values, see Motion Control Metrology Primer
² For 300mm travel
³To obtain arcsec units, divide µrad value by 4.8

For the definition of specifications see Motion Basics and Standards.

Typical (mean) On-axis accuracy plot for IMS Series stages.

Typical (mean) Pitch plot for IMS Series stages.

Typical (mean) Yaw plot for IMS Series stages.

Typical (mean) Unidirectional repeatibility plot for IMS Stages.

Typical (mean) Hysterisis plot for IMS Series stages.

Load Characteristics and Stiffness

Note: For applications exceeding 30 N axial (vertical) load, choose the IMS-V Series, see High-Load Vertical Linear Stages or contact your local Newport representative.

Cz, Normal centered load capacity	600 N
-Cx, +Cx, Axial load capacity	<30 N
kαx, Compliance in roll	1 µrad/N.m
kαy, Compliance in pitch	0.2 µrad/N.m
kαz, Compliance in yaw	1 µrad/N.m
Q, Off-center load	Q_H, Q_V ≤ Cz / (1 + D/90) and QV must be ≤ Cx
D, cantilever distance in mm between the center of the mass of the load and the bearings center.
Distance between top surface and bearings center	66 mm

Model	Travel Range (mm)	On-Axis Accuracy, Typical (µm)	Description
IMS300CC	300	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS300CCHA	300	5	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
IMS300PP	300	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS400CC	400	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS400CCHA	400	5	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
IMS400PP	400	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS500CC	500	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS500CCHA	500	5	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
IMS500PP	500	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS600CC	600	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
IMS600CCHA	600	5	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
IMS600PP	600	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS300CC	300	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS300CCHA	300	5	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
M-IMS300PP	300	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS400CC	400	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 400 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS400CCHA	400	6	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 400 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
M-IMS400PP	400	7	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS500CC	500	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS500CCHA	500	9	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
M-IMS500PP	500	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS600CC	600	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder
M-IMS600CCHA	600	5	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder
M-IMS600PP	600	7	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder

Motor cables are included.

Model	Description	avail raw	Availability	price raw	Price	Qty. MULTI ADD
EQ180	Right-Angle Bracket for IMS, RV120 and RV160	0	In Stock	1909	$1,909.00	ADD
IMS300CC	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	2	2 Weeks	5685	$5,685.00	ADD
IMS300CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	7	7 Weeks	7845	$7,845.00	ADD
IMS300PP	High Performance Linear Stage, 300 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	2	2 Weeks	5415	$5,415.00	ADD
IMS400CC	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6045	$6,045.00	ADD
IMS400CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	8090	$8,090.00	ADD
IMS400PP	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	0	In Stock	5755	$5,755.00	ADD
IMS500CC	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6480	$6,480.00	ADD
IMS500CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	8500	$8,500.00	ADD
IMS500PP	High Performance Linear Stage, 500 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6170	$6,170.00	ADD
IMS600CC	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	3	3 Weeks	6910	$6,910.00	ADD
IMS600CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	9010	$9,010.00	ADD
IMS600PP	High Performance Linear Stage, 600 mm Travel, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	0	In Stock	6580	$6,580.00	ADD
M-IMS300CC	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	2	2 Weeks	5685	$5,685.00	ADD
M-IMS300CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	7845	$7,845.00	ADD
M-IMS300PP	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 300 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	0	In Stock	5415	$5,415.00	ADD
M-IMS400CC	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 400 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6045	$6,045.00	ADD
M-IMS400CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 400 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	8090	$8,090.00	ADD
M-IMS400PP	High Performance Linear Stage, 400 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	5755	$5,755.00	ADD
M-IMS500CC	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6480	$6,480.00	ADD
M-IMS500CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	8500	$8,500.00	ADD
M-IMS500PP	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 500 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	4	4 Weeks	6170	$6,170.00	ADD
M-IMS600CC	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, DC Motor, Rotary Encoder	3	3 Weeks	6910	$6,910.00	ADD
M-IMS600CCHA	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, DC Motor, Linear Encoder	4	4 Weeks	9010	$9,010.00	ADD
M-IMS600PP	High Performance Linear Stage, Metric, 600 mm, Stepper Motor, Rotary Encoder	3	3 Weeks	6580	$6,580.00	ADD

	Dimension (mm)
Model (Metric)	A	n₁	B	n₂	Travel	L1	L2
IMS300 (M-IMS300)	150	4	5 in.	4	300	668	513
IMS400 (M-IMS400)	150	4	5 in.	4	400	768	613
IMS500 (M-IMS500)	150	4	5 in.	6	500	868	713
IMS600 (M-IMS600)	150	6	5 in.	6	600	968	813

(M-) IMS Series Stages Top Plate Interface

	Thread	Dimensions
Model (Metric)	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
IMS (M-IMS)	1/4-20 (M6)	2.00 (50)	3.00 (75)	4.00 (100)	6.00 (150)	1.00 (25)	2.00 (50)	4.00 (100)

EQ 180 Dimensions

Application Notes

Motion Application Note - Fiber Grating Inspection (211 KB)
Motion Application Note - Gigapixel Camera Testing (518 KB)
Motion Application Note - Scanning Xray Fluorescence (1.7 MB)

Data Sheets

EQ120 180 Data Sheet (83 KB)

Newport Resource e-Catalogs *

*e-Catalog pages include the most current information available at the time of printing.

Technical References

RoHS Compliance Certificate (140 KB)

User Manuals

EQ120 & EQ180 User Manual (832 KB)
IMS User Manual (1.9 MB)

Controller Compatibility

All IMS Series High Performance Linear Stages are compatible with the Universal High-Performance Motion Controller/Driver and select models are compatible with the ESP301. Refer to the table below for additional information.

Family	Max. Power Consumption (W)	XPS¹ driver module	Compatibility
Family	Max. Power Consumption (W)	XPS¹ driver module	ESP301¹	SMC100CC¹	SMC100PP¹	NSC200
IMS-CC, IMS-CCHA	170	XPS-DRV03
IMS-PP	40	XPS-DRV01	X

1. Enhanced System Performance (ESP) Controller

XPS Series

Model	Description
XPS-C2	2-axis Universal Controller/Driver, ethernet
XPS-C4	4-axis Universal Controller/Driver, ethernet
XPS-C6	6-axis Universal Controller/Driver, ethernet
XPS-C8	8-axis Universal Controller/Driver, ethernet
XPS-DRV01	PWM drive module for DC brush and stepper motors, 3A/48V max.
XPS-DRV03	High performance PWM drive module for DC motors, 5A/48V max.

Note: XPS-DRVxx card is required for each axis when used with XPS

ESP301 Series

Model	Description
ESP301-1G	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 1 axis, w/ GPIB and USB
ESP301-1N	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 1 axis, USB
ESP301-2G	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 2 axis, w/ GPIB and USB
ESP301-2N	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 2 axis, USB
ESP301-3G	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 3 axis, w/ GPIB and USB
ESP301-3N	ESP301 Motor Controller/Driver, 3 axis, USB

Selection Guides

	Description
	Motorized Linear Translation Stage Selection Guide
	Stage and Controller Compatibility

Similar Products

	Description
	FMS Series Linear Metrology Stages
	ILS Series High-Performance Mid-Range Travel Linear Stages
	UTS Series Mid-Travel Steel Linear Stages
	MTM Series Long-Travel Steel Linear Stages