CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 1 (2008) 59–62

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CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology

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Electrical probing for dimensional micro metrology

J. Hoffmann *, A. Weckenmann, Z. Sun
Chair Quality Management and Manufacturing Metrology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Each dimensional measurement is based on probed points on the surface of the measured object.
Available online 11 July 2008 However, the well-established tactile and optical probing techniques face limitations when small and
delicate objects with complex shape have to be measured. With tactile measurements there is always the
Keywords: danger of damaging the workpiece by the probing force and the measurable point rate is quite low. With
Scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) optical probing there is a principal resolution limit and accessibility to complex surfaces is hindered by
Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) the limited acceptable surface slope. Also undercuts are not measurable. To overcome these limitations a
Sensor probing system based on an electrical probing interaction with a direct current of a few nanoamperes has
been developed, tested and compared with traditional technologies. With this probing system coordinate
measurements of micro parts as well as nanometer resolved surface topography measurements are
feasible. By applying a wide range of probes accessibility problems can be drastically reduced compared
to tactile or optical micro probing systems.
ß 2008 CIRP.

1. Introduction measurements of a white light interferometer, although it

By far the most devices for dimensional metrology are
composed out of an axes system and an either tactile or optical
probing system. With the axes system the relative position
between the probing system and a workpiece is manipulated
and the absolute position of the probing system is measured, while
the probing system determines the relative position of points on
the workpiece surface with respect to a reference point in the
probing system. While appropriate axes systems for micro and
even nanometrology are commercially available [1–4], there are
still many obstacles to overcome for the construction of a universal
probing system capable for most topography and coordinate
measurements on complex shaped micro-sized parts.
2. Limitations of optical and tactile probing
For 2.5 D topography measurements (only one height value can
be measured at each point of the lateral plane) very often optical
probing systems are used due to the achievable high point rate, the
typically good resolution in beam direction and the non-
destructive functional principle. Drawbacks on the other hand
are difficulties in measuring high surface slopes and the diffraction
limit of lateral resolution (Abbe limit) [5]. This can be illustrated at
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Hoffmann@qfm.uni-erlangen.de (J. Hoffmann).
generally applies to far field optical measurements.
Fig. 1 shows a measurement of a part of a MEMS device
performed with a Taylor-Hobson TalySurf CCI white light
interferometer with 50 Mirau objective. The two aluminium
contacts are connected with a 200 nm wide carbon bridge that
could be evidenced by conductivity measurements but not by
optical measurements due to the width being smaller than the
mean wavelength of the interferometer light source. The carbon
bridge also causes heavy artefacts in the optical measurement of
the contacts, Fig. 1 inside by ellipse. Additionally all points on the
steep flanks are result of interpolation, but not of measurement
and hence do not give any real information. Interpretation of those
areas can thus be misleading.
The maximum measurable slope angle for optical methods is
always considerably below 908 (strict geometrical limit), a typical
value is around 30–458 depending on the surface roughness, the
numerical aperture of the objective and the method of measure-
ment [6] so that, in general, only small portions of true three-
dimensional objects (e.g., spheres) can be measured. The necessity
for a direct linear connection between the point to be probed and
the optical sensor causes further limitations of optical systems for
true 3D measurements (several surface points may have the same
lateral position, e.g., at undercuts) of complex parts. This is one of
the reasons why virtually all probing systems for 3D coordinate
measuring machines detect the workpiece surface by touching it
with a probing element and measuring the probing force or the
displacement of the probing element due to the probing force [7].

1755-5817/$ – see front matter ß 2008 CIRP.

doi:10.1016/j.cirpj.2008.06.002
60 J. Hoffmann et al. / CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 1 (2008) 59–62
Fig. 1. Abbe limit of lateral resolution shown at the measurement of an MEMS
device.
Opposite to light propagation, mechanical force can be transmitted
along defined curved and articulated paths, i.e., the stylus carrying
the probing element. Also it is possible with a spherical probing
element to exert a force in any direction, whereas optical systems
usually only establish their probing interaction in one direction
(mostly z). Measurement of high slopes, undercuts and interior
features in different orientations demands for such directionally
independent probing and guided propagation of the probing
interaction Fig. 2.
Also the resolution limit does not apply to tactile probing
systems, what is used, e.g., in atomic force microscopy [1], where a
fine tip with a curvature radius considerably below the wavelength
of visible light is used to scan surfaces. So the topography of the
sample is transformed into a movement of the cantilever the tip is
attached to. The much larger backside of the cantilever then
enables optical measurement of its movement.
Unfortunately tactile probing also shows principal disadvan-
tages. The serial measurement and the necessity of moving mass
for probing leads to a much lower measurable point rate by unit
time and the force needed for probing might cause damages of the
workpiece and/or the probe [8,9]. Up to now there is no tactile
micro probing system that gives the possibility of using articulated
or arborescent stylii [10], so many advantages of macroscopic
tactile 3D probing systems do not apply to miniaturized systems.
When the size of the probing element is reduced for the benefit of
better accessibility to small interior features, higher spatial
resolution and lower moment of inertia, several challenges directly
arise from the tactile working principle. Hertzian stress in the
contact area grows quickly with smaller tip balls [7], raising the
Fig. 2. Improved 3D ability by guided propagation of the probing interaction.
danger of plastic deformation of the workpiece and large
measurement errors [8]. For a ruby probing sphere of 0.125 mm
plastic deformation of 5 nm has been reported when an aluminium
surface is probed with a force of less than 1 mN [9], which is
challenging to be controlled appropriately especially because also
dynamic forces are to be considered. As the stem diameter has to
be smaller, than the tip ball diameter, also stylus bending may get
critical and lead to deteriorated signal to noise ratio when small tip
balls are used.
In comparison to static contact force, the dynamic probing force
F = m
a (m: moving probe mass, a: deceleration upon contact) can
be much higher depending on the moving probe mass and the
approach speed, what is limiting the usable approach speed in
practice [8,9].
With fiber probes [7] it is possible to probe with very low static
probing force (e.g., 1 mN) reducing the risk of damaging the
workpiece to a minimum. On the other hand they have strictly
limited capability for 3D measurements due to the non-isotropic
flexibility of the glass fiber stylii and the typically optical
measurement of the probe position.
In summary real 3D measurement of complex shaped parts is in
general only feasible using directionally independent probing and
guided propagation of the probing interaction. Both can be
achieved to a large extent with mechanical probing using spherical
probing elements and articulated stylii. Mechanical force is a very
useful probing interaction for large and medium sized mechani-
cally stable parts, but meets its limits when very small probing
elements have to be employed or delicate structures are to be
probed.
A forceless probing interaction that gives the possibility of
directionally independent probing and guided propagation of the
interaction is thus highly desirable.
3. Electrical probing
For 2.5 D topography measurement of conductive and semi-
conductive workpieces the possibility of electrical probing is used
in field emission microscopy [11] and scanning tunnelling
microscopy [12] already and proved the excellent achievable
resolution and non-destructiveness there for one dimensional
probing.
Electrical probing interactions or the measurable information
about it (i.e., current) can be easily guided along a defined path by
using an appropriately shaped conductor. Also it is feasible to use a
spherical electrode as probing element, so the prerequisites for real
three-dimensional probing are given for the electrical interaction.
To investigate the practical usability of electrical probing for the
measurement of complex shaped parts an experimental probing
system [13] was designed, set-up and integrated into a long-range
nanopositioning unit with Laser-interferometric position mea-
surement [14]. The function of the probing system is based on the
measurement of a small direct current (0–100 nA) which results
from a bias voltage between 2 and 2 V between probe and
workpiece when the distance between both is sufficiently small.
The relationship between probe travel during approach to the
surface and the resulting current can be evaluated by simulta-
neously recording the probe signal and the HeNe-Laser inter-
ferometer signal of the nanopositioning unit in the axis parallel to
probe movement, Fig. 3. For the depicted curves, a bias voltage of
1 V was used between a high alloy steel sample and a tungsten
carbide probing sphere (d = 0.3 mm). The probe was approached
and subsequently withdrawn four times with a speed of 20 nm/s.
The current decreases with increasing relative distance;
however, at small relative distances, a drastic non-linear changing
is observed for a current higher than 14 nA. Especially the lower
 J. Hoffmann et al. / CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 1 (2008) 59–62
Fig. 3. Characteristic curves of the electrical probing system when approaching to a
surface and withdrawing from the surface (four cycles).
current part (lower than 14 nA) can be used for dimensional
measurement due to the good repeatability. It is assumed that
these phenomena are consistent with the occurrence of current
flowing between narrowly separated electrodes (probe and
sample), which is widely known as tunnel effect [12,15]. Both
show an exponential behaviour and very similar electron
transmission coefficients at similar bias voltages; however, the
slope of the curve of the investigated probing system is much
smaller, than for conventional scanning tunnelling microscopes,
which are using probes with a much smaller radius of curvature
(e.g., 10 nm) and typically work in vacuum. Exact theoretical
calculation of the curve is hindered by the fact that there is no
common analytical solution for the three-dimensional barrier
model and that the one-dimensional approximation of the barrier
is not valid for probes with a much larger radius of curvature
compared to the probe-sample distance [16]. Additionally in
ambient atmosphere Schottky-emission may lead to a much lower
effective barrier height what can explain the large observed range,
low slope of the characteristic curve [17] and the differences to
theoretically predicted characteristic curves for operation in ultra
high vacuum [18]. The decreasing slope of the curve for probes
with larger radii of curvature has also been observed by other
groups in conventional scanning tunnelling microscopy, Fig. 4 [16],
where it is always aimed at small radii of curvature for the benefit
of better lateral resolution.
It is worthy to point out that the usefulness of the investigated
measurement system for real 3D measurements stems from the
fact that it is sensitive to the full three-dimensional structure of the
surface due to the employment of spherical probes with very large
radii (e.g., 0.15 mm) compared to conventional STM tips.
4. Experimental results
For evaluating system performance for dimensional metrology
and comparability of the results with tactile and optical measure-
Fig. 4. Characteristic curves of a commercial STM with a sharp tip (a) and a blunt tip
(b) [16].
61
Fig. 5. Realization of vastly differing measuring ranges on a ground steel plate.
ments, 2.5 D topography measurements with ranges between
1 mm  1 mm and 10 mm  10 mm as well as 3D coordinate
measurements of a micro ball bar have been performed and
compared with commercial optical and tactile high-end metrology
devices.
4.1. 2.5 D topography measurements
For 2.5 D surface topography measurements the distance
dependent current can be used for controlling the z-position of
the probe during scanning along x or y axis, so that the probe
follows the surface topography with constant distance. When
using a sharp probe, lateral resolution well below the Abbe limit for
optical measurements can be achieved, Fig. 5. The effective
achievable resolution is considerably better than expected from
the radius of curvature of the used probe (r = 15 mm), so it has to be
assumed that only a small portion of the spherical tip end is
effectively in interaction with the surface to be probed. The
scanning speed has been reduced from 100 mm/s for the largest
measurement range in Fig. 5 to 1 mm/s for the smallest one. At each
measuring range 1000  1000 measurement points have been
collected. Due to the robustness and virtual absence of wear and
drift of the electrical probing system also very large measuring
ranges up to 25 mm  25 mm are feasible with the experimental
set-up.
4.2. 3 D coordinate measurements
The ability for probing true three-dimensional objects can be
investigated at the measurement of spheres, which show normal
vectors in all directions. This is also reflected in the procedure for
determining 3D probing uncertainty of probing systems for
coordinate measuring machines according to ISO 10360. There a
hemisphere of negligible form deviation is probed with 25 evenly
distributed points and the maximum deviation from the Gaussian
fit is evaluated. Fig. 6 shows a measurement of a polished steel
sphere electrically probed with a monolithic tungsten carbide
probe with a 0.3 mm tip ball. Before the measurements no form
calibration of the tip ball was done, so the data represents a
combination of probing uncertainty (not reproducible) and
(reproducible) form deviations of the probing sphere and the
measured sphere.
The maximum deviation of the measured data from a Gaussian
fit sphere is 1.085 mm, while the mean difference per point
between two subsequent measurements is only 37 nm (maximum
difference: 151 nm), so the shown deviation from the Gaussian
sphere represents the form deviation of the probing sphere (form
62 J. Hoffmann et al. / CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 1 (2008) 59–62
Fig. 6. Measurement results at a steel sphere d = 4 mm with 25 evenly distributed
probing points.
Fig. 7. Investigation of invasiveness with optical microscopy (left) and white light
interferometry (right).
deviation specified by manufacturer: 2 mm) and the measured
sphere (form deviation specified by manufacturer 135 nm) rather
than the probing uncertainty of the electrical probing system. The
distance between two spheres of an Invar ball bar could be
measured with a standard deviation of 36 nm (90 measurements)
and in reasonable agreement (difference 109 nm) with the
commercial micro CMM Werth VideoCheck UA 400
(MPE = 0.6 mm). Main difficulty for evaluation of measurement
uncertainty is the lack of electrically conductive standards which
are calibrated with appropriate uncertainty. Further investigations
for evaluating measurement uncertainty are in progress.
5. Investigation of invasiveness
When probing micro parts it is often critical to ensure non-
invasiveness, so that the measured object is not altered by the
measurement. Invasiveness of electrical probing has been inves-
tigated by repeated 2.5 D measurements of the same surface area
and changing fast and slow scan axis. As this could not reveal any
traces caused by the measurement, a cross shaped scan path on a
steel sphere has been measured 300 times with adequate settings
(control set point 5 nA). After that three of the four arms of the
cross have been measured once with real electric contact to the
probe, resulting in a current of about 1 mA. After that the probed
sphere was measured with an Alicona Infinite Focus Microscope
and a Taylor-Hobson TalySurf CCI white light interferometer, Fig. 7.
When measured with real electric contact (1 mA) scratches of
up to 300 nm depth are left on the measured surface after only one
measurement, while even after 300 measurements no trace at all
could be found when the current was limited to 5 nA by
appropriate distance control, Fig. 7.
6. Summary
The feasibility of electrical probing for 2.5 D topography
measurements and also true 3D coordinate measurements has
been demonstrated. Special advantages of electrical probing are
the enormous flexibility towards the measuring task, the very good
repeatability, non-invasiveness and good robustness compared to
optical or tactile probing. A principal disadvantage is the limitation
to conductive samples. Due to the fact that the probe stem only has
to conduct a very small current, but practically no mechanical
force, further miniaturization and application of multiple articu-
lated and or arborescent stylii for the access to complex interior
workpiece features is expected to be possible.
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