Imaging of subsurface structures using atomic force acoustic microscopy at GHz frequencies

We describe a technique to image subsurface structures using atomic force acoustic microscopy operated at 1 GHz. The devices to be imaged are insonified with 1 GHz ultrasonic waves which are amplitude-modulated at a fraction or multiple frequency of cantilever contact resonance. The transmitted signals are demodulated by the nonlinear tip–surface interaction, enabling one to image defects in the device based on their ultrasonic scattering power which is determined by the ultrasonic frequency, the acoustic mismatch between the elastic properties of the host material and the defects, by their geometry, and by diffraction effects.