Measurement of electrical conductivity of micron-scale metallic wires

• Published in: Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China Vol. 16; no. B02; pp. 759 - 762
• Main Authors: JU, Bing-feng, JU, Yang, SAKA, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2006
• Subjects: atomic force microscope; electrical conductivity; four-point probe; metallic wire; 原子力显微镜; 四点探针法; 微米级金属丝; 电导率; atomic force microscope; four-point probe; electrical conductivity; metallic wire
• ISSN: 1003-6326
• DOI: 10.1016/S1003-6326(06)60296-3

Electrical conductivltles of micron-scale aluminum wires were quantitatively measured by a four-point atomic force microscope （AFM） probe. This technique is a combination of the principles of the four-point probe method and standard AFM. This technique was applied to the 99.999% aluminum wires with 350 nm thickness and different widths of 5.0, 25.0 and 50.0 μm. Since the small dimensions of the wires, the geometrical effects were discussed in details. Experiment results show that the four-point AFM probe is mechanically flexible and robust. The four-point AFM probe technique is capable of measuring surface topography together with local electrical conductivity simultaneously. The repeatable measurements indicate that this technique could be used for fast in-situ electrical properties characterization of sensors and microelectromechanical system devices.