Gallium nitride nanowire probe for near-field scanning microwave microscopy

We report on the fabrication of a GaN nanowire probe for near-field scanning microwave microscopy. A single nanowire was Pt-bonded to a commercial Si cantilever prior to evaporation of a Ti/Al coating to provide a microwave signal pathway. Testing over a microcapacitor calibration sample shows the probe to have capacitance resolution of at least 0.7 fF with improved sensitivity and reduced uncertainty compared with a commercial microwave probe. High wear resistance of the defect-free nanowire enabled it to maintain a tip radius of 150 nm after multiple contact-mode scans while demonstrating nanometer-scale topographical resolution. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.