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  • Technical Review
  • Published:

Microwave impedance microscopy and its application to quantum materials

Nature Reviews Physics volume 4, pages 61–74 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Materials in which quantum mechanical effects lead to novel properties on the macroscopic scale are of interest both fundamentally and for applications. For such quantum materials, the ability to measure local conductivity and permittivity with nanoscale spatial resolution, minimal sample preparation, in a contact-free fashion and under a wide range of external conditions (such as temperature and magnetic field) is highly desirable. To this end, microwave impedance microscopy, a scanning probe technique that measures tip–sample admittance (inverse of impedance) in a non-contact geometry at microwave frequencies, has matured over the past decade to become a tool that can do just that. This Technical Review describes its fundamental working principles and practical implementations, discusses its application to a wide range of quantum materials, including correlated, topological and 2D van der Waals materials, and outlines future opportunities in expanding the capabilities of microwave impedance microscopy.

Key points

  • Microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) probes local conductivity and permittivity by measuring the admittance between a sharp tip and the sample at microwave frequencies. It enables contact-free and electrode-free local measurements of buried samples, and is, thus, highly complementary to more established techniques.

  • Typically, MIM measures variations of the system’s complex reflection coefficient, which are proportional to variations in tip–sample admittance; local conductivity/permittivity can then be inferred with finite element analysis.

  • By working in the near-field regime, MIM achieves spatial resolution down to <50 nm, far below the diffraction limit.

  • MIM led to the understanding of important phenomena in quantum materials, including phase separation and relaxation in correlated systems, boundary and interface states in topological systems, and in materials ranging from 3D bulk to thin films to 2D van der Waals materials.

  • We expect significant developments in the scope and applications of MIM in the near future by fully utilizing so far less explored degrees of freedom, including continuous frequency tuning, nonlinear operation and coupling of external stimuli, such as optical excitation and sample strain.

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Fig. 1: Microwave circuit and signal contrast.
Fig. 2: Microwave impedance microscopy studies of emerging electronic states at order-parameter domain walls and glassy behaviour of phase separation.
Fig. 3: Microwave impedance microscopy studies of correlated phases in van der Waals moiré superlattices.
Fig. 4: Microwave impedance microscopy studies of the integer quantum Hall effect in graphene.
Fig. 5: Microwave impedance microscopy studies of the quantum spin Hall effect.
Fig. 6: Microwave impedance microscopy studies of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in modulation-doped Cr-(Bi,Sb)2Te3.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank M. A. Kelly, K. Lai, Y.-T. Cui, M. T. Allen, X. D. Chen, Z. Y. Wang, S. R. Johnston, K. J. Xu and Z. Wei for fruitful collaborations. They thank K. J. Xu, Y.-T. Cui and K. Lai for their comments. M.E.B is supported as part of the QSQM, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award DE-SC0021238, and the Marvin Chodorow Postdoctoral Fellowships of Stanford University. This research is also funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative through grant GBMF4546 (Z.-X.S.).

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  1. Eric Yue Ma

    Present address: Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Mark E. Barber, Eric Yue Ma & Zhi-Xun Shen

  2. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Mark E. Barber & Zhi-Xun Shen

  3. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Eric Yue Ma

  4. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Zhi-Xun Shen

Authors
  1. Mark E. Barber
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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of the article.

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Correspondence to Zhi-Xun Shen.

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Z.-X.S. is a co-founder of PrimeNano Inc., which licensed the microwave impedance microscopy technology from Stanford University for commercial instruments.

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Nature Reviews Physics thanks Weida Wu and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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PrimeNano Inc.: https://www.primenanoinc.com/

Rocky Mountain Nanotechnology: https://rmnano.com/

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Barber, M.E., Ma, E.Y. & Shen, ZX. Microwave impedance microscopy and its application to quantum materials. Nat Rev Phys 4, 61–74 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00386-3

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