Abstract: The invention relates to an electromechanical drive element which comprises a rotor that is received in a bearing and at least one piezoelectric element that is impinged upon with an electric voltage. Said bearing is provided with a rotor seat that is mounted on a bearing block and that can be rotated to a limited extent. Said rotor seat is rotated by the extension and/or contraction of the at least one piezoelectric element that is evoked by the electric voltage.

Abstract: The invention relates to an electromechanical positioning unit formed as an inertial drive to position objects with atomic scale positioning precision and with displacement ranges up to centimeters. The positioning unit contains at least one preferably tube shaped piezo electric actuator for transmitting electrically controllable inertial driving motions to a slider. The object of the invention is a slider consisting of at least one part of relatively high mass (mass unit) and of at least one flexible deformable part (flexible unit) allowing the frictional forces to be adjustable by bending the flexible parts and the mass part providing high loading capacity of the positioning unit. By combining these two parts it is possible to position heavy objects and to exert forces necessary to drive tools.

Abstract: An electromechanical positioning device to be used for positioning, for example, a probe-tip (12) in a scanning tunneling microscope, an electron emitter in a field electron gun, a mirror in an interferometer etc. comprises a low-mass support (10) as a moving drive means. The support, which is mounted to be frictionally movable in an electromechanical movement activating means, can be moved comparatively fast owing to its low mass and very precisely because its response to the movement force is controlled by sawtooth control pulses, preferably via a piezo-mechanical structure.