Two approaches to construction of vibrating probes for electrical current measurement in solution

Two systems are described that implement the vibrating probe method for recording the voltage field in electrolyte solutions. The method has a spatial resolution of 5–40 μm and very low drift. The first system is a simple device that allows inexpensive but reliable use of the method to record the field in one dimension. It is based on a metal electrode vibrating along a line, with power supplied by a single piezoelectric bimorph. The second is a more complex system, with computer support, that measures the field in two dimensions, acquires the data to the computer disk, and plots the field measurement on a video image of the experimental preparation. A π-shaped linkage of three bimorphs is used to move the metal electrode in two dimensions. Motor micrometers with optical encoders are used to move the electrode and monitor its position.