Active calibration reference of minimized height for characterization of scanning thermal microscopy systems

In this paper we describe the design, technology and application of a test and reference sample for calibration and characterization of scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) probes and systems. In our solution temperature field in thin film structure, which is being contacted with the thermal tip is controlled in the traceable manner. The developed technology, integrating plasma etching of Pt and chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) processing, enabled manufacturing a nanosize 100 nm thick Pt resistor on SiO₂ with topography profile below 10 nm. Four-point setup makes it possible to generate and measure (in other words control) a defined temperature field of such a structure. The size of the thermally active structure is big enough to enable reliable SThM measurements and small enough to reduce the parasitic heat transport between the surface and the cantilever platform. The proposed solution enables measurement of the output signal of the scanning thermal microscope measurement system when the temperature of the reference sample is varied in the quantitative way. Furthermore, basing on the determined sensitivity the assessment of the resolution capabilities is possible.