Linear Layout
Recording sites evenly spaced in a single column along the shank — the layout that covers the longest span for a given site count.
Sites in one evenly spaced column down the shank. The laminar design covers a longer stretch of tissue than a single tip site, so one placement samples a whole trajectory rather than one depth. It either supports or removes the need for passage-type experiments, where the probe is advanced until cells are found. It fits the widest range of applications, and is the default a design takes unless another layout is specified.
The trade is isolation. Sites spaced far enough apart to cover a track are usually too far apart for one neuron to reach several at once — and that shared view is what a spike sorter separates units on. Choose linear when the question is how activity varies with depth; choose a clustered layout when the question is which neuron.
In a model number the site layout is the field after the shank and site counts — A4x8-tet-5mm-100-200-177. A linear design leaves it empty.