Some embodiments of the invention are directed to the electrochemical fabrication of microprobes which are formed from a core material and a material that partially coats the surface of the probe. Other embodiments are directed to the electrochemical fabrication of microprobes which are formed from a core material and a material that completely coats the surface of each layer from which the probe is formed including interlayer regions. These first two groups of embodiments incorporate both the core material and the coating material during the formation of each layer. Still other embodiments are directed to the electrochemical fabrication of microprobe arrays that are partially encapsulated by a dielectric material during a post layer formation coating process. In even further embodiments, the electrochemical fabrication of microprobes from two or more materials may occur by incorporating a coating material around each layer of the structure without locating the coating material in inter-layer regions.