Contact Resonance Imaging with Vertical Nanowire Arrays

A setup for high-throughput measurement of dimensional and mechanical parameters of silicon microwire and resist nanowire arrays is used for combined topography and contact resonance imaging. It is based on customized long slender piezoresistive silicon microprobes designed for in-line measurements of industrial workpieces. In measurements with microwire and nanowire arrays we found sub-micrometer resolution on large areas (300 x 300 micrometer2) at high speed up to 300 micrometer/s. Using a mass-spring model, characteristic features of contact-resonance imaging with slender microprobes were simulated.