A novel capacitance microscope

A capacitance microscope has been used for imaging conducting surfaces. It differs from earlier designs in three major respects: the principle of capacitance detection, the coaxial probe employed, and the operating frequency. The impedance of the probe with respect to a conducting backplane is sensed, which allows the instrument to resolve the components of the complex capacitance. The probe and input stage design reduces the parasitic capacitances to approximately 4×10−14 F. The lateral resolution achieved is approximately 10 nm.