Air cored linear permanent magnet synchronous motors have essentially low force pulsations due to the lack of the primary iron core and teeth. However, a motor design with much lower force pulsations is required for many precise positioning systems, as in fabrication of microelectronic chips. This paper presents the design optimization of an air cored linear permanent magnet synchronous motor with extra low force pulsations for such applications. In order to achieve the goal, an analytical layer model of the machine is developed. A very effective objective function regarding force pulsations is then proposed; while the selected motor dimensions are regarded as the design variables. A genetic algorithm is used to find the optimal motor dimensions. This results in a substantial ninety percent reduction in the force pulsations. The design optimization is verified by a finite element method. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.