Near-field microwave microscopes are emerging instruments for materials characterization. In this work, a home-made near-field microwave microscope is first described and analyzed in terms of resolution performance and frequency band of operation. Then, it is applied to the characterization of a large variety of materials such as metals, semiconductors, dielectrics, liquids and 2D nanomaterials. The system is based on an interferometric technique to improve the measurement sensitivity in the entire frequency range of operation spanning from 2 to 18 GHz. The sensitivity and the different operating modes available (contact, non-contact, liquid environment) allow addressing a large variety of application fields. The instrument allows a sub-wavelength lateral resolution which is more than two orders of magnitude smaller than the operating wavelength, opening the way to a local characterization. The cavity perturbation and transmission line approaches have been used to extract the electromagnetic properties of materials. In particular dielectric properties of saline aqueous solutions and complex impedance of graphene have been investigated in a broad frequency band. It provides a quantitative analysis of material properties in a non-destructive manner to address numerous applications in many scientific fields. Finally, all the results together show that the interferometer-based near-field microwave microscope has the potential to become an important metrology tool for characterizations in micro- and nano-electronics.

Near-field microwave microscopes, which belong to the local scanning probe microscopes family, are considered today as advanced characterization tools in many applications areas including physics, biology and micro and nanotechnologies. The near-field microwave microscope that is used in the work and described in this manuscript is an instrument developed at IEMN owning a great sensitivity in a wide operating frequency band [2-18 GHz]. The potential of the microscope in terms of applications is demonstrated through the characterization of liquids with different modalities of characterization (probe in contact, non-contact and immersed in a liquid). In particular, this instrument is investigated for dielectric spectroscopy of aqueous glucose solutions.This characterization tool that offers sub-wavelength imaging capability is also tested in different situations (surface and subsurface imaging). Imaging resolution and measurement accuracy are evaluated and easily implementable processing methods are proposed to improve the quality of imaging. Finally, a solution towards a larger compactness of the instrument is investigated through the replacement of the network analyzer by a more compact device (six-port reflectometer type).

Connect basic theory with real-world applications with this practical, cross-disciplinary guide to radio frequency measurement of nanoscale devices and materials. • Learn the techniques needed for characterizing the performance of devices and their constituent building blocks, including semiconducting nanowires, graphene, and other two dimensional materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides • Gain practical insights into instrumentation, including on-wafer measurement platforms and scanning microwave microscopy • Discover how measurement techniques can be applied to solve real-world problems, in areas such as passive and active nanoelectronic devices, semiconductor dopant profiling, subsurface nanoscale tomography, nanoscale magnetic device engineering, and broadband, spatially localized measurements of biological materials Featuring numerous practical examples, and written in a concise yet rigorous style, this is the ideal resource for researchers, practicing engineers, and graduate students new to the field of radio frequency nanoelectronics.

Today’s wireless communications and information systems are heavily based on microwave technology. Current trends indicate that in the future along with - crowaves, the millimeter wave and Terahertz technologies will be used to meet the growing bandwidth and overall performance requirements. Moreover, motivated by the needs of the society, new industry sectors are gaining ground; such as wi- less sensor networks, safety and security systems, automotive, medical, envir- mental/food monitoring, radio tags etc. Furthermore, the progress and the pr- lems in the modern society indicate that in the future these systems have to be more user/consumer friendly, i. e. adaptable, reconfigurable and cost effective. The mobile phone is a typical example which today is much more than just a phone; it includes a range of new functionalities such as Internet, GPS, TV, etc. To handle, in a cost effective way, all available and new future standards, the growing n- ber of the channels and bandwidth both the mobile handsets and the associated systems have to be agile (adaptable/reconfigurable). The complex societal needs have initiated considerable activities in the field of cognitive and software defined radios and triggered extensive research in adequate components and technology platforms. To meet the stringent requirements of these systems, especially in ag- ity and cost, new components with enhanced performances and new functionalities are needed. In this sense the components based on ferroelectrics have greater - tential and already are gaining ground.

The tremendous impact of electronic devices on our lives is the result of continuous improvements of the billions of nanoelectronic components inside integrated circuits (ICs). However, ultra-scaled semiconductor devices require nanometer control of the many parameters essential for their fabrication. Through the years, this created a strong alliance between microscopy techniques and IC manufacturing. This book reviews the latest progress in IC devices, with emphasis on the impact of electrical atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques for their development. The operation principles of many techniques are introduced, and the associated metrology challenges described. Blending the expertise of industrial specialists and academic researchers, the chapters are dedicated to various AFM methods and their impact on the development of emerging nanoelectronic devices. The goal is to introduce the major electrical AFM methods, following the journey that has seen our lives changed by the advent of ubiquitous nanoelectronics devices, and has extended our capability to sense matter on a scale previously inaccessible.

This volume will be devoted to the technical aspects of electrical and electromechanical SPM probes and SPM imaging on the limits of resolution, thus providing technical introduction into the field. This volume will also address the fundamental physical phenomena underpinning the imaging mechanism of SPMs.