Probes with fiducial targets, probe systems including the same, and associated methods

A probe for a probe system, the probe comprising:

• a probe body;
• a probe beam extending from the probe body;
• at least one probe tip extending from a leading edge of the probe beam distal to the probe body and configured to contact a device under test (DUT);
• and
• at least one fiducial target affixed to the probe beam;
• wherein:
• (i) an illumination light source is configured to emit emitted light to illuminate the fiducial target;
• (ii) the fiducial target is configured to be visible to an optical system when the probe tip approaches the DUT to facilitate determining a position of the at least one probe tip relative to the DUT;
• (iii) the fiducial target is configured to produce a focused light reflection of the emitted light;
• and
• (iv) the focused light reflection has a focused light reflection diameter that is less than an incident light diameter of the emitted light that is incident upon the fiducial target.

A method of utilizing a probe that includes a fiducial target, the method comprising:

• providing the probe that includes:
• (i) a probe body;
• (ii) a probe beam extending from the probe body;
• (iii) at least one probe tip extending from a leading edge of the probe beam distal to the probe body and configured to contact a device under test (DUT);
• and
• (iv) at least one fiducial target affixed to the probe beam, wherein the fiducial target is configured to be visible to an optical system when the probe tip approaches the DUT to facilitate determining a position of the at least one probe tip relative to the DUT;
• and wherein the fiducial target is configured to be more optically resolvable by the optical system relative to at least a portion of the probe beam that is adjacent to the fiducial target;
• determining a first position of the fiducial target relative to the optical system, wherein the determining the first position includes determining a first height offset between the optical system and the fiducial target, as measured along a direction parallel to an optical axis of the optical system;
• translating the DUT relative to the probe;
• determining a second position of the fiducial target relative to the optical system, wherein the determining the second position includes determining a second height offset between the optical system and the fiducial target, as measured along the direction parallel to the optical axis;
• and
• subsequent to the determining the second position, determining an overdrive distance of the probe relative to the DUT, wherein the overdrive distance is equal to a difference between the first height offset and the second height offset.