Static contact micro four-point probes with <11 nm positioning repeatability

In recent years micro four-point probes (M4PP) have proved a powerful tool for electrical characterization of thin film due to a high surface sensitivity and spatial resolution. However, a common problem is the probe lifetime which is limited mainly due to mechanical wear of the electrode material on the cantilever tips. In this paper we present a three-way flexible M4PP that enables static contact upon surface contact. We experimentally demonstrate that the static contact results in little or no frictional wear of the electrode material. In addition we investigate the repeatability of the effective spatial electrode position and find that the standard deviation of each electrode position is more than one order of magnitude smaller than the length scale of the tip contact area.