Electro-optically controlled measurement probe system
US5583446A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 14, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 10, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 14, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S977/868
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A needle-shaped terminal, i.e., a probe tip, is brought into extremely close proximity with an object being measured. This probe tip is formed from an optically active material and in itself is electrically non-conductive, so that it has no electrical influence whatsoever on the object being measured. When optical pulses are beamed onto this probe tip, the probe tip becomes an electric conductor and a current flows between it and the object being measured, so that the electric potential of the object can be measured. This facilitates previously impossible measurements of high-speed electric waveforms. It also facilitates high spatial resolution monitoring and control of probe tip position and characterization of measurement sites, and enables highly reliable measurements to be made inexpensively.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.