A smart microfour-point probe with ultrasharp in-plane tips

Ji-Kwan Kim; Yan Zhang; Dong-Weon Lee

doi:10.1063/1.3100182

A smart microfour-point probe with ultrasharp in-plane tips

Rev Sci Instrum. 2009 Apr;80(4):045107. doi: 10.1063/1.3100182.

Authors

Ji-Kwan Kim¹, Yan Zhang, Dong-Weon Lee

Affiliation

¹ MEMS and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, 300 Youngbong, Buk, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.

PMID: 19405691
DOI: 10.1063/1.3100182

Abstract

We propose a smart microfour-point probe (micro4PP) with ultrasharp in-plane tips that are arranged in a square with a spacing of 20 microm. The micro4PP consists of a supporting cantilever and four subcantilevers. The subcantilevers are symmetrically suspended from the square frame at the end of the supporting cantilever. A thermal actuator based on the bimorph effect is also integrated on each subcantilever for functionalization of interest. The unique configuration of the four-terminal tips is very useful for versatile applications of the micro4PP.