Simultaneous topographic and thermal imaging of silicon nanowires using a new SThM probe

In Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) techniques, the probe, and more particularly the tip, plays a major role in the spatial resolution limitation and in the acquisition speed. We present a new commercial resistive SThM probe constituted of a Palladium (Pd) film on a SiO₂ substrate. We first describe its geometry and electrical properties. Then, we present topographic and thermal images of silicon nanowires, which show the very good spatial resolution (<;100nm) and the high acquisition speed obtained with this probe. To extract thermal parameters from a thermal image, a calibration of the probe is necessary. Hence, we propose a model for the probe and we finally use it to identify its geometric, electrical and thermal parameters.