Imaging in Liquids through Ultra-thin Membranes: A Comparative Analysis of Scanning Electron and Scanning Microwave Microscopies

Published

July 24, 2016

Author(s)

Alexander Tselev, Jeyavel Velmurugan, Andrei Kolmakov

Abstract

The ability of the near-field microwave microscopy to image subsurface structures has been realized shortly after the invention of the technique. Based on these capabilities, we propose and successfully tested a novel concept of in situ near-field scanning microwave impedance microscopy (sMIM) for imaging of reactive and biological samples. In our approach, the samples of interest were separated from ambient by a few nanometer thick dielectric membranes transparent for microwave radiation. Different from prior examples of microwave imaging in liquids, where the probe had to be immersed in a liquid or exposed to aggressive vapors, our approach benefits from complete isolation of the probe and the rest of the microscope from reactive environment and therefore enables in situ imaging of previously inaccessible highly reactive, toxic, corrosive, or radioactive samples. Here we report on a comparative side-by-side study of imaging capabilities of liquid SEM and liquid sMIM techniques using the same set of biological and inorganic samples. In particular, the sensitivity, spatial resolution, probing depth, scanning rate, and probe induced effects have been compared

Proceedings Title

Microscopy and Microanalysis conference proceedings

Volume

22

Issue

S3

Conference Dates

July 24-28, 2016

Conference Location

Columbus, OH, US

Conference Title

Microscopy and Microanalysis

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616002610

Local Download

Keywords

in liquid sMIM, in situ SEM

Citation

Tselev, A. , Velmurugan, J. and Kolmakov, A. (2016), Imaging in Liquids through Ultra-thin Membranes: A Comparative Analysis of Scanning Electron and Scanning Microwave Microscopies, Microscopy and Microanalysis conference proceedings, Columbus, OH, US, [online], https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616002610, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=920661 (Accessed May 9, 2026)

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