An interferometric scanning microwave microscope and calibration method for sub-fF microwave measurements.

We report on an adjustable interferometric set-up for Scanning Microwave Microscopy. This interferometer is designed in order to combine simplicity, a relatively flexible choice of the frequency of interference used for measurements as well as the choice of impedances range where the interference occurs. A vectorial calibration method based on a modified 1-port error model is also proposed. Calibrated measurements of capacitors have been obtained around the test frequency of 3.5 GHz down to about 0.1 fF. Comparison with standard vector network analyzer measurements is shown to assess the performance of the proposed system.

Calibrated nanoscale capacitance measurements using a scanning microwave microscope.

A scanning microwave microscope (SMM) for spatially resolved capacitance measurements in the attofarad-to-femtofarad regime is presented. The system is based on the combination of an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a performance network analyzer (PNA). For the determination of absolute capacitance values from PNA reflection amplitudes, a calibration sample of conductive gold pads of various sizes on a SiO(2) staircase structure was used. The thickness of the dielectric SiO(2) staircase ranged from 10 to 200 nm. The quantitative capacitance values determined from the PNA reflection amplitude were compared to control measurements using an external capacitance bridge. Depending on the area of the gold top electrode and the SiO(2) step height, the corresponding capacitance values, as measured with the SMM, ranged from 0.1 to 22 fF at a noise level of ~2 aF and a relative accuracy of 20%. The sample capacitance could be modeled to a good degree as idealized parallel plates with the SiO(2) dielectric sandwiched in between. The cantilever/sample stray capacitance was measured by lifting the tip away from the surface. By bringing the AFM tip into direct contact with the SiO(2) staircase structure, the electrical footprint of the tip was determined, resulting in an effective tip radius of ~60 nm and a tip-sample capacitance of ~20 aF at the smallest dielectric thickness.

Quantitative scanning near-field microwave microscopy for thin film dielectric constant measurement.

We combine a scanning near-field microwave microscope with an atomic force microscope for use in localized thin film dielectric constant measurement, and demonstrate the capabilities of our system through simultaneous surface topography and microwave reflection measurements on a variety of thin films grown on low resistivity silicon substrates. Reflection measurements clearly discriminate the interface between approximately 38 nm silicon nitride and dioxide thin films at 1.788 GHz. Finite element simulation was used to extract the dielectric constants showing the dielectric sensitivity to be Deltaepsilon(r)=0.1 at epsilon(r)=6.2, for the case of silicon nitride. These results illustrate the capability of our instrument for quantitative dielectric constant measurement at microwave frequencies.