Multimodal imaging technology by integrated scanning electron, force, and microwave microscopy and its application to study microscaled capacitors

Overview & Synopsis

Extracting simultaneously multimodal nanoscale specimen information, by an integrated microscopy technology, is in the focus of this report. The combination of multiple imaging techniques allows for obtaining complementary and often unique datasets of samples under test. An instrumental setup operating under high-vacuum conditions inside the chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), as a platform fusing various microscopy methods, techniques and processes, illustrates the potential of such multimodal technology. An atomic force microscope based on a compact optical interferometer performs imaging of surface topographies and a scanning microwave microscope records electromagnetic properties in the microwave frequency domain at the same time and spot. An open-source software framework, tailored for vision-based automation by nanorobotics, controls the instrument. The setup allows for simultaneously observing the region-of-interest with SEM resolution, while imaging and characterizing with evanescent microwaves and atomic forces. To validate the approach an analysis of microscale capacitors is included.