The two types of probe have been compared. A number of experiments pointing to their electrochemical behavior were performed. Noise and screening problems linked to both probe technologies have been analyzed and their contribution to the probe quality and drawback identified. The most important results dealt with the reciprocal interaction by convective diffusion between probe and electrode. The contribution of redox potentials to the measurement is substantiated. The results give a deeper insight in the causes of limitation of the LEIS found in the literature.

A novel method of measuring local electrochemical impedance using a single vibrating probe electrode has been developed by modification of a commercial device of scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET). The small size of the vibrating probe used by the SVET, increases the space resolution of the current distribution. Furthermore, the local impedance as defined here takes into account not only the local current density but also the local electrode potential, as opposed to the measurements proposed up to now in the literature. Simulation calculations demonstrate that this definition is the only one which leads to understandable results. The signal processing used to obtain this impedance is explained in detail and tested on a dummy cell including a phototransistor to simulate a vibrating electrode. The local impedances of a corroding Ni disk and of an electrode simulating pitting corrosion are also measured with this system.

A novel method of measuring local electrochemical impedance using a single vibrating probe electrode has been developed by modification of a commercial device of scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET). The small size of the vibrating probe used by the SVET minimizes the screening effect of the probe on the distribution of current in the region of analysis. Furthermore, the local impedance as defined here takes into account not only the local current density but also the local electrode potential, as opposed to the measurements proposed up to now in the literature. The signal processing used to obtain this impedance is explained in detail and tested on a dummy cell including a phototransistor to simulate a vibrating electrode. The local impedance of an electrode simulating pitting corrosion is also measured with this system.