Ball Tips of Micro/Nano Probing Systems: A Review

To satisfy the measuring demands for the micro components of the industry, micro/nano probing systems with various ball tips have been developed. However, most of them cannot be used to measure the real micro geometrical features high precisely because the parameters of the ball tips are not appropriate. The ball tips with a diameter of less than 100 mu m, a sphericity and eccentricity of far less than 1 mu m are required urgently. A review on the state-of-the-art of ball tips of micro/nano probing systems is presented. The material characteristics and geometric parameters of now available ball tips are introduced separately. The existing fabrication methods for the ball tips are demonstrated and summarized. The ball tips' future trends, which are smaller diameter, better sphericity and smaller eccentricity, are proposed in view of the practical requirements of high-precision measurement for micro geometrical features. Some challenges have to be faced in future, such as the promotion and high-precision measurement for the small ball tip's sphericity and eccentricity. Fusion method without the gravity effect when the molten ball tip solidifying is a more suitable way to fabricate a small diameter ball tip together with a shaft.