Investigating the Trackability of Silicon Microprobes in High-Speed Surface Measurements.

High-speed tactile roughness measurements set high demand on the trackability of the stylus probe. Because of the features of low mass, low probing force, and high signal linearity, the piezoresistive silicon microprobe is a hopeful candidate for high-speed roughness measurements. This paper investigates the trackability of these microprobes through building a theoretical dynamic model, measuring their resonant response, and performing tip-flight experiments on surfaces with sharp variations. Two microprobes are investigated and compared: one with an integrated silicon tip and one with a diamond tip glued to the end of the cantilever. The result indicates that the microprobe with the silicon tip has high trackability for measurements up to traverse speeds of 10 mm/s, while the resonant response of the microprobe with diamond tip needs to be improved for the application in high-speed topography measurements.