Development of a shear-force scanning near-field cathodoluminescence microscope for characterization of nanostructures' optical properties

An original scanning near-field cathodoluminescence microscope for nanostructure characterization has been developed and successfully tested. By using a bimorph piezoelectric stack both as actuator and detector, the developed setup constitutes a real improvement compared to previously reported SEM-based solutions. The technique combines a scanning probe and a scanning electron microscope in order to simultaneously offer near-field cathodoluminescence and topographic images of the sample. Share-force topography and cathodoluminescence measurements on GaN, SiC and ZnO nanostructures using the developed setup are presented showing a nanometric resolution in both topography and cathodoluminescence images with increased sensitivity compared to classical luminescence techniques.