Keji Lai - Menlo Park CA, US Michael Kelly - Portola Valley CA, US
Assignee:
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University - Palo Alto CA
International Classification:
G01Q 20/02 G01Q 60/00
US Classification:
850 6, 850 21
Abstract:
A microwave microscope including a probe tip electrode vertically positionable over a sample and projecting downwardly from the end of a cantilever. A transmission line connecting the tip electrode to the electronic control system extends along the cantilever and is separated from a ground plane at the bottom of the cantilever by a dielectric layer. The probe tip may be vertically tapped near or at the sample surface at a low frequency and the microwave signal reflected from the tip/sample interaction is demodulated at the low frequency. Alternatively, a low-frequency electrical signal is also a non-linear electrical element associated with the probe tip to non-linearly interact with the applied microwave signal and the reflected non-linear microwave signal is detected at the low frequency. The non-linear element may be semiconductor junction formed near the apex of the probe tip or be an FET formed at the base of a semiconducting tip.