Improved surface imaging with a near-field scanning microwave microscope using a tunable resonator

We report a microwave surface imaging technique using a near-field scanning microwave microscope with a tunable resonance cavity. By tuning the resonance cavity, we could demonstrate improved sensitivity and spatial resolution of the topographic image of YBa2Cu3Oy thin films on MgO substrates. By measuring the shift of resonant frequency and the change of quality factor, we obtained near-field scanning microwave images with a spatial resolution better than 4 mum at an operating frequency of f=1-1.5 GHz. The principal of operation could be explained by the perturbation theory of a coaxial resonant cavity, considering the radius of the probe tip, the sample-tip distance, and the impedance matching. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.