A Miniature Electric Probe With a High Spatial Resolution
Yu Tian, Xing‐Chang Wei, Di Wang, Richard Xian‐Ke Gao
Abstract
This article presents a novel design of an <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${E}_{z}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> probe with a high spatial resolution. The key factors that have significant impact on spatial resolution are analyzed, and the optimal design for achieving a high spatial resolution is showcased. By strategically reducing the effective lengths of the probe in <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${x}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> or <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${y}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -directions, remarkable spatial resolution is achieved. The proposed probe is cost-effective as it is fabricated on a four-layer printed circuit board (PCB) while exhibits more stable performance. To further improve the spatial resolution and address limitations in PCB fabrication, a blind-hole structure is implemented. Operating in a frequency band of up to 6 GHz, the probe demonstrates outstanding rejection of unwanted fields across a broad spectrum. Simulation and measurement results verify the exceptional performance of the proposed probe.