Advanced calibration kit for scanning microwave microscope: Design, fabrication, and measurement.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Metrology

Background:

• Scanning Microwave Microscopy (SMM) requires precise calibration for accurate measurements.
• Existing calibration methods can be sensitive to material properties and fabrication variations.
• Development of robust calibration standards is crucial for advancing SMM applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a novel capacitive calibration kit for SMM.
• To demonstrate the material independence and high contrast of the designed structures.
• To validate the use of the kit for SMM tip calibration and capacitance extraction.

Main Methods:

• Finite element modeling for device design and analysis.
• Clean-room fabrication techniques for gold-based capacitive structures.
• SMM measurements under varying conditions.
• Application of the short-open-load (SOL) calibration algorithm.

Main Results:

• The designed capacitive structures exhibit high independence from material parameters.
• Fabricated gold structures show strong contrast against the background in SMM measurements.
• Experimental data successfully calibrated SMM tips and extracted device capacitance.
• The calibration approach proved effective across a wide frequency range.

Conclusions:

• The novel capacitive calibration kit is suitable for SMM applications.
• The lateral configuration ensures material parameter independence.
• The SOL calibration algorithm is applicable for SMM tip calibration using this kit.