Coated Tips for Scanning Thermal Microscopy

Nicolás Duarte; Peter Eklund; Srinivas Tadigadapa

doi:10.1117/12.702157

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12 February 2007 Coated tips for scanning thermal microscopy

Nicolás Duarte, Peter Eklund, Srinivas Tadigadapa

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Proceedings Volume 6464, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications IV; 646408 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.702157
Event: MOEMS-MEMS 2007 Micro and Nanofabrication, 2007, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

This paper presents a unique solution to the inaccuracies produced when thermally scanning various micro and nano systems with thermistor tip scanning thermal microscopy (SThM). Under dc measurement conditions, thermistor tip heating induces perturbations in the measured system that change with sample properties like material and geometry. As a result, normal SThM scans are affected by errors that make it difficult to interpret the 2D-temperature scans of such systems. By coating the SThM tips with a thermally resistive material (100nm of Si₃N₄) we demonstrate that the temperature dependence on sample material and geometry can be minimized and the tip heating problem can be mitigated to that of a constant temperature offset problem. Included are the first images of coated scanning thermal microscopy (C-SThM) as well as a lumped model that describes the basis of the improvement seen in the thermal images.

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Nicolás Duarte, Peter Eklund, and Srinivas Tadigadapa "Coated tips for scanning thermal microscopy", Proc. SPIE 6464, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications IV, 646408 (12 February 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.702157

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