Circuit-internal signal measurements with a needle sensor

We present AC current contrast and voltage contrast measurements with a needle sensor based Scanning Force Microscope. For current measurements a spatial resolution of 600 nm and a sensitivity of 100 μA are achieved while in the case of voltage measurements we demonstrate a spatial resolution of 300 nm and a sensitivity of 500 μV. A first application of current measurements with such a system in a commercial IC is shown, which could not be done with cantilever based test systems.