Wei Zhun

MODELING AND INVERSION IN
NEAR-FIELD MICROWAVE
MICROSCOPY AND ELECTRICAL
IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY
WEI ZHUN
B. Sc., University of Electronic Science and Technology
of China, China
A THESIS SUBMITTED
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF

PHILOSOPHY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND

COMPUTER ENGINEERING
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
2016
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the thesis is my original work
and it has been written by me in its entirety.
I have duly acknowledged all the sources of
information which have been used in the thesis.
This thesis has also not been submitted for any
degree in any university previously.
Wei Zhun
22 July 2016
i
ii
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to

my supervisor, Prof. Xudong Chen. As a supervisor and mentor,
he has given many instructive suggestions on my research and
taught me how to be a good researcher. As a brother, he has
encouraged me in my hard time and shared his life experience
with me. I sincerely feel that I owe to Prof. Chen a huge debt,
and it is a great treasure for me to spend these four years with
him.
Secondly, I would like to thank all the staffs in Microwave and RF

research group in National University of Singapore, for providing
a pleasant lab for the research, instructing me on class and offering
kind assistance during my doctoral study.
I would also like to thank my seniors, Krishna Agarwal and Chen

Rui, for their professional guidance, very helpful discussions, and
friendship. It is also my pleasure to express my appreciation
to Ye Xiuzhu, Chen Wen, Zhong Yu, Pan li, Hoang Thanh
Xuan, Kuiwen Xu, and Song Rencheng for sharing their research
experience and life happiness with me. I greatly cherish the time
spent with all of them.
I would specially like to thank Prof. Zhi-Xun Shen at Stan-

ford University and his microwave impedance microscopy team
iii
members, such as Yong-Tao Cui and Eric Yue Ma, for providing
experimental data, very helpful discussions and suggestions.
Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my dear parents, who

give me the most endless love. Also, I would like to thank my
girlfriend, Jin Lei, for her selfless support and endless love.
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Table of Contents
Declaration i
Acknowledgements iii
Table of Contents v
Summary ix
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xiii
List of Symbols xviii
List of Publications xx
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Inverse problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Near-field microwave microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Why near-field microwave microscopy? . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 State of the art in NFMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 Challenges in NFMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Electrical impedance tomography problem . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Overview of the thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 Tip-Sample Interaction in NFMM 15

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Microwave impedance microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.1 Lumped element modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.2 MIM-R and MIM-I channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Equivalent-sphere model in NFMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3.1 Bispherical coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3.2 Green’s function due to a charge . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3.3 Tip charge variation due to a dipole . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3.4 Numerical validation and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4 Quantitative analysis of effective height of probes in NFMM . 30
2.4.1 Experimental details and analysis approach . . . . . . 32
2.4.2 Results and discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.4.2.1 Cumulative contribution of C 0 (h), C 0 (h), and
C 00 (h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.4.2.2 Effective height of C 0 (h) and C 00 (h) . . . . . . 38
2.4.3 Experiment validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3 A Novel Forward Solver in NFMM 45

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.2 Theory and principle of forward solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.1 Model description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.2 Calculation of potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.2.3 Calculation of contrast capacitance . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3 Numerical validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3.1 Contrast capacitance at one scanning point . . . . . . . 53
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.3.2 Effective interaction area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.3.3 Contrast capacitance at different scanning points . . . 58
3.4 Experimental validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4 Nonlinear Image Reconstruction with Total Variation in

NFMM 66
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.2 Inverse formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.3 Implementation procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.4 Numerical validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5 Two FFT Subspace-Based Optimization Methods for Electri-

cal Impedance Tomography 76
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.2 Forward model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.2.1 Model description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.2.2 Theoretical principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.2.3 Discretization method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.2.4 Singularities in Green’s function . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.3 Inverse algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.3.1 Subspace-based optimization method (SOM) . . . . . . 86
5.3.2 New fast Fourier transform subspace-based optimiza-
tion method (NFFT-SOM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.3.3 Low frequency subspace optimization method (LF-SOM) 88
5.3.4 Implementation procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.4 Numerical simulation and discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
5.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6 Conclusions and Future Work 99

6.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.2 Future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Bibliography 104
Appendix A: Derivation of Coefficients in Dirichlet Green’s

Function for Equivalent-Sphere Model 129
viii
Summary
This thesis addresses the modeling and inversion in near-field

microwave microscopy (NFMM) and electrical impedance to-
mography (EIT) problems. Both the modeling and inversion
are conducted in the framework of Laplace’s equation since
the computational domain is much smaller than the wavelength
in the NFMM and the problem is purely static in the EIT.
The original contributions of this thesis are: Firstly, the thesis
presents a complete analysis of tip-sample interaction in NFMM,
which includes proposing both lumped element model method
and impedance variation method to analyze the experimental
system, deriving the Green’s function for calculating charges on
tip in equivalent-sphere model, and introducing the concept of
effective height to analyze the contribution of tips in NFMM.
Secondly, based on the analysis of tip-sample interaction, the
thesis proposes a novel forward solver for NFMM which can be
applied to arbitrary tip shapes, thick and thin films, and complex
inhomogeneous perturbation. It is shown that this method can
accurately calculate capacitance variation due to inhomogeneous
perturbation in insulating or conductive samples, as verified by
both results of commercial software and experimental data from
microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). Thirdly, a nonlinear
image reconstruction method with total variation constraint in
NFMM is presented based on the forward solver proposed.
ix
Numerical results show that the proposed method can accurately
reconstruct the permittivity distribution in three dimensional
samples for NFMM. Most importantly, it is found from the
results that the resolution has been significantly improved in the
reconstructed image. Finally, inversion method is also applied
to solve the electric impedance tomography (EIT) problem in a
domain with arbitrary boundary shape, and two new inversion
methods are presented. The first is the new fast Fourier
transform subspace-based optimization method (NFFT-SOM),
and the second is the low frequency subspace optimization method
(LF-SOM). The thesis gives a detailed analysis of strengths
and weaknesses of NFFT-SOM and LF-SOM. It is found that
compared with the traditional subspace optimization method
(SOM), both of the proposed methods are faster and can get a
smaller exact error in solving EIT problem.
x
List of Tables
2.1 Effective height he of C 00 (h) for typical tips and samples in

NFMM (Units: µm). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
xi
LIST OF TABLES
xii
List of Figures
1.1 Field regions for antennas equal to, or shorter than, one-
half wavelength of the radiation they emit. According to the
definition in “Electromagnetic Radiation: Field Memo” by
OSHA cincinnati laboratory, the 2 wavelengths definition for
far field is approximate “rules of thumb”. More precise far field
boundary is normally defined based primarily on antenna type
and antenna size as 2D2 /λ. (From Wikipedia) . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Modeling of a cross section of a human thorax showing current
stream lines and equi-potentials from drive electrodes [1]. . . . 10
1.3 A brief schematic of forward and inverse models in electrical
impedance tomography problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1 Block diagram of MIM electronics in the reflection mode. [2, 3] 16

2.2 Measurement environment for microwave impedance microscopy
with setup and devices [2–4]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 (a) A lumped element model between Z-match network and
ground. (b) Magnitude of S11 for experiment and simulation.
(c) Phase of S11 for experiment and simulation. . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Bispherical coordinate system [5]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.5 Dipole geometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.6 Typical potential distribution of tip-ground system for equivalent-
sphere model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.7 Surface charge density on the tip of φ = 0 surface induced by
a unit dipole placed along the η direction, where horizontal
coordinate represents the X coordinate of the tip surface. . . . 29
2.8 Surface charge density on the tip of φ = 0 surface induced by
a unit dipole placed along the φ direction, where horizontal
coordinate represents the X coordinate of the tip surface. . . . 29
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
2.9 (a) A simple schematic of microwave impedance microscopy

with cone-sphere tip. Unless stated otherwise, H = 15 µm,
r = 50 nm, θ = 20◦ , hs = 200 nm, l = 20 nm, and εr = 3.9 are
used for numerical analysis (Not to scale). (b) Discretization
of the tip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.10 (a) SEM image of the pyramid tip [6] in MIM measurement.
(b) SEM image of the Pt tip [7] in MIM measurement. . . . . 34
2.11 Cumulative contribution of C(h), C 0 (h), and C 00 (h) for the
typical model illustrated in Fig. 2.9(a) for (a) dielectric
material and (b) metal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.12 Effective height for C 0 as a function of relative permittivity
(εr ) for (a) three different sample heights hs = 20 nm, hs =
200 nm, hs = 500 nm, (b) three different apex radii r = 50 nm,
r = 150 nm, and r = 500 nm, (c) three different tip half-cone
angles: θ = 6◦ , θ = 20◦ , and θ = 35◦ , and (d) three different
reference distances l = 5 nm, l = 12 nm, and l = 20 nm.
Unless stated otherwise in each case, all the other parameters
are the same as that in Fig. 2.9(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.13 C 0 as a function of tip-sample spacing l with Pt tip measuring
(a) bulk SiO2 and (b) Al dot sample for both simulation
and experiment results. (c) C 0 as a function of tip-sample
spacing l with pyramid tip measuring Al dot sample for both
simulation and experiment results. (Blue square denotes the
simulation results from the truncated tip with effective height;
Black line denotes the experimental results; Red star denotes
the simulation results from equivalent-sphere tip of which the
radius is equal to apex radius of practical tip.) . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1 A typical near-field microwave microscopy scheme including

geometry and parameters used in the calculation of this
chapter: H = 5 µm, h = 0.485 µm, θ = 30◦ , Wp = 1.2 µm,
Ws = 6 µm, hp = 0.4 µm, tip sample distance l = 20 nm, and
hs = 0.6 µm (Not to scale). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2 Contrast capacitance due to the perturbation of domain I
which is filled with homogeneous oxide with relative permit-
tivity εx for both FE-BI method and COMSOL values. . . . . 53
xiv
LIST OF FIGURES
3.3 (a) The side view of a sample with four layers of perturbation
filled in domain I. Each layer has a width of Wp and height of
hn and these four layers are filled with alumina, some certain
oxide, glass and silicon, respectively. (b) Capacitance variation
due to the four layers of perturbation sample depicted in Fig.
3.3(a) for both FE-BI method and COMSOL when changing
εy from 6 to 40 and (c) changing the conductivity of the second
layer from 0.02 S/m to 7.82 S/m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.4 Contrast capacitance normalized to Wp = 5 µm as a function
of Wp for three different half cone angles of tip. . . . . . . . . 56
3.5 Contrast capacitance normalized to Wp = 5 µm as a function
of Wp for three different substrate heights hs . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.6 Cone-sphere tip scans over a three dimensional sample with an
“H” shape perturbation presented (Wp = 100 nm and Ls =
400 nm). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.7 Contrast Contrast capacitance image when tip scans over “H”
shape perturbation (simulation results from COMSOL). . . . . 59
3.8 Contrast Contrast capacitance image when tip scans over “H”
shape perturbation (results from FE-BI method). . . . . . . . 59
3.9 Side view of a buried sample structure, and SiO2 is buried in
Al2 O3 layer with a specific pattern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.10 Capacitance varying with tip-sample distance (l) for both EFM
and MIM (scaled). The horizontal axis denotes the tip-sample
distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.11 (a) Capacitance difference between tip-sample distance of
0 nm and 200 nm measured by MIM (dash-line rectangular
represents the specific calculation area in FE-BI method). (b)
Capacitance difference between tip-sample distance of 0 nm
and 200 nm computed by FE-BI method in this chapter. Each
pixel has an area of 0.25 × 0.25 um2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.1 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “H” shape perturba-

tion presented with Ws = 6 µm, hs = 1 µm, hp = 0.4 µm,
Wh = 100 nm, Ls = 400 nm, εb = 3.9 and ε1 = 16; (b) Top
view of exact distribution of relative permittivity in (a); (c)
The simulated received capacitance signal; (d) Reconstruction
of relative permittivity from the signal in (c). . . . . . . . . . 70
xv
LIST OF FIGURES
4.2 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “51” shape perturba-

tion presented with Ws = 6 µm, hs = 1 µm, hp = 0.4 µm,
Ws1 = 100 nm, Ws2 = 250 nm, Ls1 = 600 nm, Ls2 = 150 nm,
εb = 3.9, and ε1 = 16; (b) Top view of exact distribution
of relative permittivity in (a); (c) The simulated received
capacitance derivative signal; (d) Reconstruction of relative
permittivity from the signal in (c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.3 Top view of exact distribution of (a) relative permittivity
and (b) conductivity for a conductive sample with an “51”
shape perturbation presented; The simulated received (c)
capacitance derivative and (d) conductance derivative signals;
Reconstructed (e) relative permittivity and (f) conductivity
from the received signals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.4 (a) The simulated received capacitance derivative signal, where
5% Gaussian noise is added; (b) Reconstruction of relative
permittivity from the signal in (a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.1 A typical schematic of EIT problem with a two dimensional

domain consisting of a square with width W1 and four half
circles with a radius of W1 /2, in which W1 = 1, and σ0 =
1. Voltages are measured at a number of Nr nodes on the
boundary ∂I which are labeled as dots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.2 Schematic of Green’s function integral on a small cell with
singularities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.3 (a)The exact profile of two half circles: radii of both half circles
are 0.3, and centers are located at (-0.35, -0.2) and (0.35, 0.1),
respectively. (b) The singular values of the operator G∂ , where
the base 10 logarithm of the singular value is plotted. . . . . 90
5.4 Reconstructed conductivity profiles at the 60th iterations with
L = 4 for (a) traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-
SOM, where 20% Gaussian noise is added. (d) Comparison of
exact error f in the first 300 iterations for the three inversion
methods with L = 4, where the base 10 logarithm of the exact
error value is plotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
SOM, where 20% Gaussian noise is added. (d) Comparison of
exact error f in the first 300 iterations for the three inversion
methods with L = 12, where the base 10 logarithm of the exact
error value is plotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
xvi
LIST OF FIGURES
5.6 Comparison of exact error f in the first 300 iterations for (a)
traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM with 20%
Gaussian noise, where the base 10 logarithm of the exact error
value is plotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
SOM, where 1% Gaussian noise is added. . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.8 Comparison of exact error f in the first 300 iterations for (a)
traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM with 1%
Gaussian noise, where the base 10 logarithm of the exact error
value is plotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
xvii
List of Symbols
Greek Symbols
ω Angular frequency
σ Electrical conductivity
θ Half cone angle of tip
SR MIM-Re signal
SI MIM-Im signal
Y Tip-sample admittance
Acronyms
2D Two-dimensional
3D Three-dimensional
ADS Advanced Design System
AFM Atomic-force microscopy
AWGN Additive white Gaussian noise
BEM Boundary element method
CG Conjugate gradient
CSI Contrast source inversion
CT Computerized tomography
EFM Electrostatic force microscopy
EIT Electrical impedance tomography
EMP Evanescent microwave probe
FEM Finite element method
FFT Fast Fourier transform
f-MRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging
GICM Generalized image charge method
xviii
ITO Indium-tin-oxide
LF-SOM Low frequency subspace optimization method
MEMS Microelectromechanical systems
MIM Microwave impedance microscopy
MMIC Monolithic microwave integrated circuit
MOM Method of moment
NA Numerical aperture
NFFT-SOM New fast Fourier transform subspace-based optimiza-
tion method
NFMM Near-field microwave microscopy
PRP Polak-Ribière-Polyak
STED Stimulated emission depletion
STM Scanning tunneling microscope
SVD Singular value decomposition
SOM Subspace-based optimization method
TSOM Twofold subspace-based optimization method
UV Ultraviolet
VNA Vector network analyzer
xix
List of Publications
[1] Z. Wei, Y. T. Cui, E. Y. Ma, S. Johnston, Y. Yang, R.

Chen, M. Kelly, Z. X. Shen, X. Chen, “Quantitative Theory
for Probe-Sample Interaction With Inhomogeneous Pertur-
bation in Near-Field Scanning Microwave Microscopy,” IEEE
Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 64,
1402-1408 (2016).
[2] Z. Wei, E. Y. Ma, Y. T. Cui, S. Johnston, Y. Yang, K.
Agarwal, M. Kelly, Z. X. Shen, X. Chen, “Quantitative
analysis of effective height of probes in near-field microwave
microscopy,” Review of Scientific Instruments, 87, 094701
(2016).
[3] Z. Wei, R. Chen, H. Zhao, and X. Chen, “Two FFT
subspace-based optimization methods for electrical impedance
tomography,” Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Ac-
cepted (2016).
[4] R. Chen, M., Wu, J., Ling, Z. Wei, Z. Chen, M. Hong,
and X. Chen, “Superresolution microscopy imaging using full
wave modelling and inverse reconstruction,” Optica, 3, 1339-
1347 (2016).
[5] Z. Wei, Y. T. Cui, E. Y. Ma, S. Johnston, Y. Yang, R.
Chen, M. Kelly, Z. X. Shen, X. Chen, “Super-resolution
Imaging in near-field microwave microscopy by Inversion,”
in preparation (2016).
[6] Z. Wei and X. Chen, “Numerical study of resolution in
near field microscopy for dielectric samples,” IEEE Inter-
national Symposium on Antennas and Propagation (AP-
SURSI), (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 910-911,
Jul., 2015).
xx
[7] R. Chen, Z. Wei, and X. Chen, “Three dimensional through-
wall imaging: Inverse scattering problems with an inhomo-
geneous background medium,” Antennas and Propagation
(APCAP), 2015 IEEE 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on, (Bali,
Indonesia, 505-506, Jun., 2015).
[8] Z. Wei, K. Agarwal, R. Chen, and X. Chen, “Analysis of
tip-sample interaction in microwave impedance microscopy
by lumped element model,” Antennas and Propagation
(APCAP), 2015 IEEE 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on, (Bali,
Indonesia, 67-68, Jun., 2015).
[9] Z. Wei, K. Agarwal, and X. Chen, “Analytical Green’s
function for tip-sample interaction in microwave impedance
microscopy,” Advanced Materials and Processes for RF
and THz Applications (IMWS-AMP), 2015 IEEE MTT-
S International Microwave Workshop Series on, (Suzhou,
China, 1-3, Jul., 2015).
[10] R. Chen, Z. Wei, and X. Chen, “Three Dimensional Inverse
Scattering Problems with an Inhomogeneous Background
Medium,” PIERS 2016, (Shanghai, China, Aug., 2016).
[11] Z. Wei, R. Chen, and X. Chen, “Super-resolution Imaging
in Near-field Scanning Microwave Impedance Microscopy by
Inversion,” PIERS 2016, (Shanghai, China, Aug., 2016).
xxi
Chapter 1
Introduction
This thesis addresses modeling and inversion in near-field microwave mi-

croscopy (NFMM) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) problems.
Both the modeling and inversion are conducted in the framework of Laplace’s
equation since the computational domain is much smaller than the wavelength
in the NFMM and the problem is purely static in the EIT. In the NFMM,
the thesis mainly studies tip-sample interaction problem, effective forward
solver and the corresponding inversion method. In the EIT, the studies are
focused on the new inversion methods which are fast and robust to noise
in reconstructing electrical properties. This introductory chapter provides a
general description of the inverse problem, near-field microwave microscopy
and electrical impedance tomography problems.
1.1 Inverse problem
An inverse problem is the process of solving for the properties of an object (or
parameters of a system) from the observation of the response of this object
(or system) to a probing signal [8]. It is called inverse problem because it
1
1 INTRODUCTION
starts with the response and then reconstructs the properties of the object
which cause the response. On contrary, a forward problem starts with the
known model and then calculate the response to a probing signal. For
example, if an obstacle with specific permittivity distribution is illuminated
by electromagnetic waves, the calculation of the scattered fields is the forward
problem; if one observes scattered field far away from the the obstacle, the
inverse problem, which is referred to as the inverse scattering problem, is to
reconstruct the position, shape and permittivity distribution of the obstacle
from the observed scattered field.
The inverse scattering technique is one of the most important approaches
in quantitatively determining either physical or geometrical properties in
various fields [9]. In remote sensing, inversion method is used to estimate
physical parameters from the observations of external or internal radiant
energy [10]. Inverse technique also acts as a powerful tool to analyze human
organs and biological systems in biomedical imaging and diagnosis [11]. In
quantum physics, an important application of inversion method is to find
the potential from the impedance function [12]. One of the most important
advantages of inversion method is that it avoids expensive and destructive
evaluation. In order to detect the inhomogeneities in a medium, one only
needs to collect the scattered field outside the medium instead of drilling a
hole in it. Thus, inverse scattering techniques are also widely used in non-
destructive detection [13]. In this thesis, studies are focused on the application
of inversion method on characterization of electrical properties in near-field
microwave microscopy and electrical impedance tomography problems.
2
1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 Near-field microwave microscopy
Near-field microwave microscopy (NFMM) is concerned with measuring the

microwave electrodynamic response of materials which have length scales far
shorter than the free-space wavelength of the radiation [4, 14–18]. It is an
emerging technique used to image semiconductor devices [19], nanoparticles
[20], dielectric samples [21], two-dimensional electron gas [22] and other
materials with interesting properties [23–26]. In this section, some basic
concepts, state of the art, and challenges in NFMM techniques are introduced.
1.2.1 Why near-field microwave microscopy?
Compared with microscopy which relies on the far field interaction, NFMM
utilizes the near field interaction between tip and sample. It is well known
that, in far field, the spatial resolution is limited by the wavelength known
as Abbe diffraction limit found by Ernst Abbe in 1873. It states that spatial
Fig. 1.1 Field regions for antennas equal to, or shorter than, one-half
wavelength of the radiation they emit. According to the definition in
“Electromagnetic Radiation: Field Memo” by OSHA cincinnati laboratory,
the 2 wavelengths definition for far field is approximate “rules of thumb”.
More precise far field boundary is normally defined based primarily on
antenna type and antenna size as 2D2 /λ. (From Wikipedia)
3
1 INTRODUCTION
resolution ∆r is limited by the equation [27]:

λ
∆r = (1.1)
2n sin θ
in which the denominator n sin θ is known as numerical aperture (NA) and
can reach about 1.4 − 1.6 in modern optics. Techniques exploiting shorter
wavelengths such as Ultraviolet (UV) [28–32] and X-ray microscopes [33, 34]
are often used to increase the resolution, but they are often expensive and
some of them may cause damage to samples under test.
To obtain higher resolution, near-field techniques are widely used. In
NFMM, the tips used are often in micrometer order, whereas the operating
frequency is with a few GHz. Thus, the tips are shorter than half
of the wavelength of the radiation they emit, and can be treated as
electromagnetically short antennas. Figure 1.1 presents field regions for
antennas equal to, or shorter than, one-half wavelength of the radiation they
emit, and it suggests that NFMM should work at the near field region since
the distance between tip and sample is normally tens of nanometers. In near
field region, the diffraction limit is not valid, and the spatial resolution is
decided by the size of the source or detector [14]. The reason is that it is
the evanescent field that interacts with sample under test in near field region
rather than propagating electromagnetic wave. Mathematically, evanescent
waves can be characterized by a wave vector where one or more of the vector’s
components has an imaginary value [35]. Suppose that the wave vector of
evanescent wave have the form:
k = kr r̂ + kz ẑ = βr̂ + jαẑ (1.2)
in which r̂ and ẑ are unit direction in cylindrical coordinate and j is the

imaginary unit. The magnitude of wave vector k is calculated as k =
p
kr2 + kz2 . If ∆r = 2π
kr
is defined as the spatial resolution in r direction
4
1 INTRODUCTION
[2], in propagating electromagnetic wave, it is easy to find k > kr and

∆r > λ, which means the spatial resolution is limited by wavelength. For
evanescent wave, since one or more of the wave vector’s components has an
imaginary value, it is possible that k < kr and ∆r < λ. Therefore, exploiting
the near field interaction is able to extend the diffraction limit and obtain
higher resolution in NFMM. Additionally, it is noted that this consideration
is an alternative explanation of extending diffraction limit in near field region,
and, as included in [36], another explanation is concerned with Heisenberg
uncertainty principle [37].
Compared with optical microscopy and other microscopy operating at
high frequency range, one of the most important advantages of microwave
microscopy is the relative simplicity of the detected signal interpretation and
experimental instrument implementation [14]. In microwave frequency, the
electromagnetic wave interacts with sample in a very straightforward way
and the principle can be described by classical electromagnetic theory. On
contrary, in optical microscopy, the optical radiation interacts with materials
through quantum interactions, plasmon excitation, lattice dynamics, etc., and
these interactions are much more complicated [14].
Moreover, compared with atomic-force microscopy (AFM) that mainly
measures the topography information of nanostructures [38–42], NFMM
has a high resolution image on physical properties including permittivity,
conductivity and permeability of sample under investigation [4, 15–18]. In
comparison with scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which is an instru-
ment for imaging surfaces at the atomic level [43–48], microwave microscopy
measures properties of materials at sub-micron scale, and many emerging
phenomena such as phase-separation during metal-insulator transition and
quantum spin hall edge states are observed at this length scale [2, 22].
5
1 INTRODUCTION
1.2.2 State of the art in NFMM
NFMM technique has been studied extensively in the last two decades, and
substantial progress has been made in the aspects of theory, instrumentation,
imaging resolution, and data interpretation. This section summarizes state
of the art in NFMM including evolution of probes, circuit design, spatial
resolution, and applications.
NFMM in S. M. Anlage’s group starts from the probe constructed from
an open-ended resonant coaxial line which is excited by an applied microwave
voltage in the frequency range of 7.5−12.4 GHz [49], and this simple near-field
scanning microwave microscope has a spatial resolution of about 100 µm. In
last two decades, probes in his group develop from blunt probe to scanning
tunneling microscope (STM) resonant probe [49–56], and the reported spatial
resolution is improved from 100 µm to about 100 nm [49, 55–59]. The main
applications of NFMM in his group include imaging microwave electric fields
from superconducting and normal-metal microstrip resonators [60], measuring
local magnetic properties of metallic samples [61], imaging topography of
La0.67 Ca0.33 M nO3 thin film on LaAlO3 substrate [54], and quantitatively
measuring dielectric permittivity and nonlinearity in ferroelectric crystals
[62].
Probes in M. Tabib-Azar’s group mainly include evanescent microwave
probe (EMP) with microstripline resonator [63–71] and AFM compatible
probe [72]. One advantage of EMP is that, by changing its geometry
and frequency of operation, one can easily alter its characteristics for
a specific sensing application [69]. It also proves that EMP is able to
nondestructively monitor excess carrier generation and recombination process
in a semiconductor [71]. The AFM compatible probe consists of a coaxially
shielded heavily doped silicon tip and an aluminum (Al) coplanar waveguide,
6
1 INTRODUCTION
which can be applied to image embedded nanostructures [72]. Most of the

working frequencies in his group are below 4 GHz and the reported spatial
resolution is about 50 nm under contact mode and 0.1 µm under non-contact
mode. Applications of NFMM in his group are mainly concerned with imaging
materials with high conductivity [66, 67], quantifying stress and resistivity
change with hydrogen concentration variation [73], mapping temperature
distributions [70], detecting depletion regions in solar cell p-n junctions in
real time [68], and studying surface electron spin resonance [74].
Golosovsky’s group mainly applies resonant-slit probe in near-field mil-
limeter wave resistivity microscope [75–80]. The spatial resolution is better
than 100 µm under contactless model [78–80], and 1 µm in slit direction
under contact mode [76, 77]. The NFMM technique in his group can be used
to test semiconducting wafers, conducting polymers, oxide superconductors,
and printed circuits [78], measure ordinary and extraordinary Hall effect
[76], and locate heating of biological media [81]. Similarly, in Nozokido’s
group, slit-type probes are also used to observe the electrical anisotropy in the
viewed object [82] and transition phenomena of photoexcited free carriers [83].
Besides slit probes based NFMM, scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope is
also used in his group to examine ultrahigh-density storage devices and image
the state of spontaneous polarization of a ferroelectric material [84–87].
In Kim and Lee’s group [88–91], NFMM begins with a near-field scanning
millimeter-wave microscope based on a resonant standard waveguide probe
[88]. The waveguide based NFMM has a spatial resolution of about 2 µm, and
images thin films by measuring the variation of resonant frequency and quality
factor. Then, near-field scanning microwave microscope with a tunable
dielectric resonator is developed, which improves the spatial resolution to
better than 1 µm [89–91]. The NFMM in their group is mainly applied to
7
1 INTRODUCTION
image DNA film in buffer solution [92], investigate space charge properties at
the interface of pentacene thin films [93], characterize the sheet resistance of
indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films [94], and image Y Ba2 Cu3 Oy thin film on
M gO substrate [95].
Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) probe is also used as a point-like
evanescent field emitter in Xiang’s group [96, 97]. His group achieves a
5 µm spatial resolution [96], and improves it to 100 nm by using phase-
sensitive detection and adjusting shifter for 90◦ out-of-phase between signal
and reference [98]. A conducting sphere is used in the same potential to
represent the whole tip, and quantitatively measure the dielectric properties
[99–101]. Nevertheless, the validity of this analysis requires complete shielding
of parasitic near-field components, and the exact tip shape near the apex is
also crucial. His group mainly applies NFMM to image dielectric constant
profiles [97, 99–101], investigate ferroelectric domains [97, 102–104] and
measure low-k dielectric films with varying film thicknesses [105].
Besides NFMM in the above groups, ultratall coaxial tip based on
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology is used in Daniel W.
van der Weide’s group [106]. Z. Popović’s group also propose a near-
field microwave measurement system which is able to achieve large scan
areas (1 mm2 ) with micrometer spatial resolution, long-term measurement
stability and good signal-to-noise [107], and his group has applied NFMM
to investigate monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). Moreover,
Vladimir V. Talanov’s group has applied NFMM to measure the lumped-
element impedance of a test vehicle [108] for the first time.
Recently, microwave impedance microscopy (MIM), one of the most
advanced NFMM, is constructed in Shen’s team [2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 19, 22, 109,
110], which is able to make nano-scale images of conductivity and permittivity
8
1 INTRODUCTION
of a sample with a spatial resolution better than 100 nm. It has wide
applications and can be applied to image semiconductor devices, investigate
phase separated materials, measure buried structures and image biological
specimens. In this thesis, the experimental part is conducted with MIM, and
it is particularly introduced in Chapter 2. In addition to the above mentioned
groups, Gramse’s and Sacha’s teams focus on the tip-sample interaction study
[21, 111–119], and the comparisons between the work in this thesis and their
methods are addressed in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3.
1.2.3 Challenges in NFMM
Although substantial progress has been made in NFMM in last two decades,
it remains an area of active research and continues to pose a variety of
challenging questions. Among them, solving tip-sample interaction problems,
quantitatively extracting properties of materials from measured signals and
improving imaging spatial resolution are three urgent issues.
It is difficult to solve tip-sample interaction problem in NFMM due to the
complexity of tip geometry and circuits, large computational area for three
dimensional samples, and contribution of cantilevers. In this thesis, based on
a complete analysis of tip-sample interaction in NFMM, a novel forward solver
is developed. As is verified both numerically and experimentally, this solver
is general and efficient and at the same time is able to deal with arbitrary tip
in three-dimensional setup.
Moreover, although NFMM can receive signals that is related to physical
properties of objects under test, most of the studies are limited to qualitative
detection. Quantitatively extracting physical information from received
signals is still a very challenging task, especially for three dimensional
inhomogeneous samples. Till now, quantitative studies have been focusing on
9
1 INTRODUCTION
Fig. 1.2 Modeling of a cross section of a human thorax showing current

stream lines and equi-potentials from drive electrodes [1].
extracting parameters from a homogeneous media with a constant permittiv-

ity or conductivity [113–115], and in comparison, sample information is hardly
obtained from inhomogeneous materials. This thesis proposes a nonlinear
image reconstruction method based on the above mentioned forward solver
to retrieve both permittivity and conductivity information of inhomogeneous
samples from measured signals. It is also verified by numerical examples that
this method is able to improve imaging resolution as well.
1.3 Electrical impedance tomography prob-
lem
Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique

in which an image of the internal impedance of the body or subject is
reconstructed from the external surface electrode measurements. Since
Barber and Brown developed the first EIT device in the early 1980s,
electrical impedance tomography has attracted intense interests recently in
10
1 INTRODUCTION
geophysics, environmental sciences, medicine, and non-destructive evaluation

fields since it is cheap, fast, portable and sensitive to physiological changes
[120–123]. Compared with other imaging techniques, such as computerized
tomography (CT) scanners, functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI)
methods, and ultrasound scanning, EIT is able to provide new and different
information such as electrical tissue properties and act as a continuous
monitoring technique. Most importantly, only small devices are needed in
EIT measurement and no ionising radiation is imposed on users.
Normally, when examining the body part using EIT techniques, people
need to attach conducting surface electrodes around the body and apply small
alternating current to some of the electrodes. The voltages are recorded from
the other electrodes and this process is repeated several times to collect the
data for extracting the body information using the reconstruction algorithms.
In medicine, EIT is widely used to monitor lung function since the resistivity
of lung tissue is much higher than that of other soft tissues within the
thorax. Figure 1.2 presents modeling of a cross section of a human thorax
showing current stream lines and equi-potentials from drive electrodes [1]. It
suggests that equi-potential lines are bent with the variation of conductivity
between different organs in the thorax, which means that one can obtain the
information of organs by measuring the voltages changes from the electrodes
around the body.
Figure 1.3 presents a brief schematic of forward and inverse models in
electrical impedance tomography problems. As is depicted in Fig. 1.3,
electrical current is injected from the boundary of an object. In EIT forward
model, the conductivity distribution is known and the potential distribution
needs to be calculated. However, in EIT inverse model, the potential on
the boundary is measured and the task is to reconstruct the conductivity
11
1 INTRODUCTION
Fig. 1.3 A brief schematic of forward and inverse models in electrical

impedance tomography problems.
distribution of the object. Mathematically, EIT inverse problem is a very

challenging problem due to its nonlinear and highly ill-posed properties
[124, 125]. Till now, many researchers focus on studying the uniqueness of
the EIT solution [124, 126–128] and improve the experimental techniques
[129, 130]. As a non-invasive medical imaging technique, the algorithm
which is fast in reconstructing information of object under test and robust
to environmental noise is also crucial [131–135]. In this thesis, studies are
focused on the new reconstruction algorithms which are fast and at the same
time robust to noise in EIT problem.
1.4 Overview of the thesis
The author’s original contribution is presented in the remainder of the thesis,

where both of the modeling and inversion are conducted in the framework of
Laplace’s equation in NFMM and EIT.
In Chapter 2, some challenging problems of tip-sample interaction in
12
1 INTRODUCTION
NFMM are discussed. The first part of this chapter presents the electronics
of the NFMM used in the experimental part of the study, and both lumped
element model method and impedance variation method are used to analyze
the experimental system. Then, to deal with tip-sample interaction problems,
the Dirichlet Green’s function is derived to calculate charges on tips in
equivalent-sphere model, and the limitations of equivalent-sphere model have
also been discussed. Finally, the concept of effective height is proposed to
analyze the contribution of tips in NFMM, which is crucial in numerically
solving tip-sample interaction problems for different modes in NFMM.
According to the analysis in Chapter 2, a novel forward solver is proposed
for NFMM in Chapter 3, which can be applied to arbitrary tip shapes, thick
and thin films, and complex inhomogeneous perturbation. The computational
domain for tip-sample interaction problem in the forward solver is reduced to
a block perturbation area by applying Green’s Theorem, and thus it can
save substantial time and memory during calculating either electric field
or contrast capacitance for three-dimensional (3D) models of NFMM. It
is shown that this method can accurately calculate capacitance variation
due to inhomogeneous perturbation in insulating or conductive samples,
as verified by both finite element analysis results of commercial software
and experimental data from microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). More
importantly, this forward solver also provides a rigorous framework to solve
the inverse problem which has great potential to improve resolution by
deconvolution in NFMM.
Based on the forward solver presented in Chapter 3, a nonlinear image
reconstruction method with total variation constraint in NFMM is presented
in Chapter 4. The method is fast because it reduces the computational
domain for tip-sample interaction problem to a block perturbation area by
13
1 INTRODUCTION
applying Green’s Theorem in the forward model. Numerical results show that
the proposed method can accurately reconstruct the permittivity distribution
in three dimensional samples for NFMM. Most importantly, it is found from
the results that the resolution has been significantly improved in the retrieved
image.
In Chapter 5, two numerical methods are proposed to solve the electric
impedance tomography (EIT) problem in a domain with arbitrary bound-
ary shape. The first is the new fast Fourier transform subspace-based
optimization method (NFFT-SOM). Instead of implementing optimization
within the subspace spanned by smaller singular vectors in subspace-based
optimization method (SOM), a space spanned by complete Fourier bases is
used in the proposed NFFT-SOM. The thesis studies the advantages and
disadvantages of the proposed method through numerical simulations and
comparisons with traditional SOM. The second is the low frequency subspace
optimization method (LF-SOM), in which the deterministic current subspace
and noise subspace in SOM are replaced with low frequency current and the
space spanned by discrete Fourier bases, respectively. A detailed analysis
of strengths and weaknesses of LF-SOM is also given through comparisons
with the above-mentioned SOM and NFFT-SOM in solving EIT problem in
a domain with arbitrary boundary shape.
Finally, in Chapter 6, a summary of this thesis is given, as well as
suggestions for future work.
14
Chapter 2
Tip-Sample Interaction in
NFMM
2.1 Introduction
In NFMM, as a tip scans over samples, the impedance between tip and ground
changes corresponding to the perturbation introduced by the sample under
test, and the variation of impedance is detected and recorded in the measured
signal. The ultimate goal of quantitative measurement in NFMM is to find
the relationship between detected quantities and the sample properties. The
processes to achieve this goal can be decomposed into two parts. The first
part is to establish the relationship between measured signals and impedance
between tip and sample, and the second part is to relate the properties of
materials to the impedance between tip and sample, which is also called tip-
sample interaction problems in NFMM. This chapter includes solutions for
both of the parts, and it is organized as follows.
Section 2.2 introduces basic electronics of the NFMM used in the
experimental part of the study, in which both the lumped element model
15
2 TIP-SAMPLE INTERACTION IN NFMM
Fig. 2.1 Block diagram of MIM electronics in the reflection mode. [2, 3]
method and the impedance variation method are used to establish the
relationship between measured signals and impedance between tip and
sample. Then, to deal with tip-sample interaction problems, in section 2.3,
Green’s function is derived to calculate charge density on tip for equivalent-
sphere model, which is the most widely used equivalent model in NFMM.
The limitations of equivalent-sphere model have also been discussed in this
section. In section 2.4, the concept of effective height is proposed to analyze
the contribution of tips in NFMM, and this concept is crucial in numerically
solving tip-sample interaction problems for different modes in NFMM.
2.2 Microwave impedance microscopy
In this thesis, the experimental parts are conducted on microwave impedance

microscopy (MIM) [2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 19, 22, 109, 110], which is one of the most
advanced NFMMs. As is depicted in Fig. 2.1 [2, 3], in MIM, the signal
generated from microwave source is divided into two pathes. One path is
used as a reference signal for a quadrature mixer, and the other one is further
16
Fig. 2.2 Measurement environment for microwave impedance microscopy

with setup and devices [2–4].
divided into two signals. The first one goes to a directional coupler and
then to the tip which scans above the sample under test, and there is a z-
match circuit between the coupler and tip. The second one is used to cancel
common-mode signal [2]. Figure 2.2 shows a photo of experimental setup and
devices consisting of AFM, AFM controller, RF Source, and MIM electronics
for MIM [4]. In an MIM measurement, GHz voltage modulation is delivered
to a metallic tip. When the tip is brought close to and scans across the surface
of a sample, variations of tip sample admittance are recorded.
In output part of MIM electronics, a phase shifter is added in the reference
signal line to make sure that the output channels, MIM-Re and MIM-
Im correspond to the real part (1/∆R) and imaginary part (∆C) of the
tip-sample admittance variation (1/∆Z), respectively. The principles that
calibration only on the phase is sufficient to guarantee such correspondences
are presented as follows. The received reflection coefficient S11 at the position
between Z-match and coupler in Fig. 2.1 can be expressed as:
S11 = f (1/R + jωC) = f (Y ) (2.1)
17
where Y is the tip-sample admittance, then:

dS11 dS11 dY dS11
= = (2.2)
d(1/R) dY d(1/R) dY
and
dS11 dS11 dY dS11
= = jω (2.3)
d(C) dY d(C) dY
Thus, the differential of S11 with respect to differential of 1/R and C have a
90◦ shift, and also a constant ω difference. Considering that the differential
of S11 is linear with the output of MIM, one only needs to first calibrate some
lossless material to get the position of imaginary signal by adjusting the phase
in reference signal, which guarantees that imaginary signal corresponds to
capacitance variation. Then, the MIM-Re consequently corresponds to real
part of the tip-sample admittance variation.
18
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 2.3 (a) A lumped element model between Z-match network and ground.
(b) Magnitude of S11 for experiment and simulation. (c) Phase of S11 for
experiment and simulation.
19
2.2.1 Lumped element modeling
Figure 2.3(a) presents a lumped element model for the region between Z-
match network and ground. The S11 parameter is measured experimentally
through vector network analyzer (VNA) at the point between the Z-match
circuit and coupler in Fig. 2.1. Then the S11 parameter is loaded into the
Advanced Design System (ADS) software as the design goal and the values
of capacitance and resistance in Fig. 2.3(a) are optimized such that the
calculated S11 of the optimized circuit matches the measured S11 . Figure
2.3(b) and 2.3(c) present the comparison of magnitude and phase for S11
between numerical and experimental results after optimization, respectively,
in which Rc = 5 Ω, Cb = 1.87 pF , C = 13.5 f F , and R = 2302 Ω have been
obtained through the optimization process.
Although the S11 parameter of the established lumped element model
matches well with that measured in experiment, the method using lumped
element model to analyze tip-sample interaction has its limitations. As is
observed in experiment, both the magnitude and phase of S11 at the resonant
frequency is sensitive to environment effects, which means that a small
perturbation may cause dramatic variations in performance of S11 . Due to
the inevitable experimental error in S11 , it is difficult to establish an accurate
value for all the components in lumped element model. Thus, lumped
element model is only appropriate to qualitatively understand the tip-sample
interaction in MIM. To quantitatively evaluate the tip-sample interaction in
MIM, a more accurate approach is needed, which will be presented in the
next subsection, where the relationship between the impedance variations
and MIM signals is studied.
20
2.2.2 MIM-R and MIM-I channels
In order to quantitatively extract sample information, the relationship

between measured signals in MIM and impedance variations between tip
and sample is established as follows. For a linear MIM electronic system
[2], the relationship between MIM-Re (SR ) and MIM-Im (SI ) signals and the
variations of reflection coefficient ∆S11 at the position between Z-match and
coupler in Fig. 2.1 can be expressed as:
SR +j SI ∝ ∆S11 (2.4)
where ∆S11 is the variations due to the perturbation in sample and can
be calculated as S11 (Y ) − S11 (Y0 ) with Y0 being the reference impedance,
i.e., the impedance between tip and sample without perturbation presented
(impedance at the reference point). Take Taylor expansion on S11 (Y ):
0
S11 (Y ) = S11 (Y0 ) + S11 (Y0 )(Y − Y0 ) + . . . (2.5)
in which the difference between Y and Y0 is a tiny perturbation compared to

the whole impedance between tip and sample. Then, from Eq. (2.5), one can
get:
∆S11 ∝ ∆Y (2.6)
with ∆Y = ∆1/R + jω∆C. Therefore, the received MIM-Re and MIM-Im

have an approximately linear relationship with the variations of impedance
between tip and sample:
SR +j SI ∝ ∆1/R + jω∆C (2.7)
Thus, in data interpretation process, one needs to firstly do a calibration to

find the linear coefficient between received signals and impedance variations
for further sample information analysis. Normally, approach curve method is
21
used to obtain this coefficient, and details of this method are included in the
experimental calibration part of Chapter 3.
2.3 Equivalent-sphere model in NFMM
The previous section has introduced an approach to interpret MIM-Re or

MIM-Im signals as impedance variations between tip and sample by exploiting
the linear relationship between them. To quantitatively extract sample
information, in next step, one needs to solve the tip-sample interaction
problem, i.e., to establish the relationship between tip-sample impedance and
material properties. As is mentioned previously, this problem is difficult
to be numerically solved by traditional method or software due to large
computational region for 3D samples. Thus, several equivalent models have
been adopted by researchers to model the tip-sample interaction. Among
them, the equivalent model which assumes the tip as a small conducting
sphere is widely used to solve tip-sample interaction problems especially for
thin films [136, 137]. In this section, Green’s function is deduced under
bispherical coordinate system, in which tip is modeled as a conducting sphere
[138].
2.3.1 Bispherical coordinate system
The bispherical coordinate system is defined by [5]:

a sin η cos φ
x= (2.8)
cosh µ − cos η
a sin η sin φ
y= (2.9)
cosh µ − cos η
a sinh µ
z= (2.10)
cosh µ − cos η
22
Fig. 2.4 Bispherical coordinate system [5].
a
hµ = hη = (2.11)
cosh µ − cos η
a sin η
hφ = (2.12)
cosh µ − cos η
where 0 ≤ φ ≤ 2π, −∞ < µ < ∞, and 0 ≤ η ≤ π. hµ , hη and hφ are

the scale factors, and a is the distance between the foci and original point.
As is illustrated in Fig. 2.4, those for constant µ0 represent the spheres
surface with center at z = a cothµ0 , x = y = 0, and radius R = a|cschµ0 |.
Those for constant η represent the spindle-shaped surfaces when η > π/2,
and apple-shaped surfaces when η < π/2. For any point of P , η = ∠F1 P F2
and µ = ln( |P F1 |
|P F2|
).
The transformation relationship of unit vector between bispherical and
23
Cartesian coordinate can be expressed as:

   ∂x ∂y ∂z     
∂µ ∂µ ∂µ
µ̂  hµ hµ hµ  x̂ x̂
   ∂x ∂y ∂z     
 η̂  =  ∂η ∂η ∂η  ŷ  = Mc ŷ  (2.13)
   hη hη hη     
   ∂x ∂y ∂z     
∂φ ∂φ ∂φ
φ̂ hφ hφ hφ
ẑ x̂
where Mc can be calculated as:
 
−2xz −2yz −2z 2 2 2
 Q Q Q
+ R Q+a 
 √ 2 2 √ √ 
2 2 y 4R2 −4z 2 2 2 z 4R2 −4z 2 
Mc = − x 4RQ −4z + √xx2 +y2 R Q−a −

Q
+ √ 2y 2 R Q−a − Q 
 x +y 
√ −y
 
√x 0
x2 +y 2 x2 +y 2
(2.14)
q
with R = x2 + y 2 + z 2 and Q = (R2 + a2 )2 − (2az)2 .
p
2.3.2 Green’s function due to a charge
In NFMM, with the tip-ground voltage applied, the dielectric materials

between tip and ground are polarized as dipoles, and these dipoles are
secondary sources which further perturb the charge distribution on tip. By
measuring the capacitance variation (charge variation) on the tip, one is able
to collect the material information under test. Thus, the effect of a dipole on
tip charge distribution is critical to solve tip-sample interaction in equivalent-
sphere model.
In this part, Green’s function in the tip-ground system due to a charge is
first derived, in which the potential at the boundary is set to zero for both
tip and base, namely the boundary condition in the problem is ϕ (µ = 0) = 0
and ϕ (µ = µ0 ) = 0 where µ = 0 and µ = µ0 represent ground plane and
boundary of tip, respectively. To obtain the Green’s function under this
boundary condition, the following Poisson equation needs to be solved:
1
∇2 ϕ = − δ(µ − µc )δ(η − ηc )δ(φ − φc ) (2.15)
hµ hη hφ ε0
24
where the subscript c denotes the source point. This is an inhomogeneous

partial differential equation, and normally the complete solution of this kind
of equation consists of a particular solution of the inhomogeneous equation
plus general solution of homogeneous equation. In bispherical coordinates, the
Laplacian operator is R-separable, and one can separate the Laplace equation
[139] and then get the following particular solution:
1 p
ϕp = (cosh µ − cos η)(cosh µc − cos ηc ) · Fp (2.16)
4πε0 a
where
∞ X
n
X (n − m)! e−(n+0.5)(µ−µc ) µ > µc
Fp = εm cos[m(φ−φc )]·Pnm (cos ηc )Pnm (cos η)
n=0 m=0
(n + m)! e−(n+0.5)(µc −µ) µ < µc
(2.17)
in which εm is Neumann factor with εm = 1 when m = 0, and εm = 2 when
m > 0, and Pnm (cos η) is the associated Legendre function of the first kind.
By comparing with this particular solution and considering that ϕ is finite
at surface of η = 0, π, the general solution can be expressed as the following
form:
∞ X
X n
p
ϕg = (cosh µ − cos η)· cos[m(φ − φc )]·Pnm (cos η)(Ae(n+0.5)µ +Be−(n+0.5)µ )
n=0 m=0
(2.18)
where A and B are two coefficients to be determined under the boundary
condition.
Taking the boundary condition ϕ = ϕg + ϕp = 0|µ=0;µ=µ0 into account, the
simplified Green’s function due to a unit charge under a conducting spherical
tip can be expressed as:
∞ X
X n
p
Gq = ϕg + ϕp = −M (cosh µ − cos η)· cos[m(φ − φc )]Pnm (cos η) · FG
n=0 m=0
(2.19)
25
Fig. 2.5 Dipole geometry.
where 
 2 sinh N (µ0 −µ) sinh N µc

µ > µc
sinh N µ0
FG = (2.20)
 2 sinh N (µ0 −µc ) sinh N µ
 µ < µc
sinh N µ0
and
1p (n − m)! m 1
M =− (cosh µc − cos ηc ) · εm Pn (cos ηc ) · (2.21)
a (n + m)! 4πε0
with N = 0.5 + n.
2.3.3 Tip charge variation due to a dipole
To calculate the Green’s function due to a dipole in equivalent-sphere model,

as is illustrated in Fig. 2.5, a dipole consisting of two equal opposite charges
with a distance of d is first considered. The potential due to this dipole can
be expressed as [140]:
q q
Φp (x) = 0 − (2.22)
4πε0 |x − x | 4πε0 |x − x0 + nd|
0
For a small d, one can expand |x−x +nd|−1 using a Taylor series expansion
in three dimensions [140]:
1 1 1
= + a · ∇( ) + · · · (2.23)
|x + a| x x
Thus, as d approaches to zero, the potential becomes:
1 0 1 0
Φp = P·∇( 0 ) = P · ∇ Gq (2.24)
4πε0 |x − x |
where P = nqd = µ̂pµ + η̂pη + ϕ̂pϕ is the dipole moment. Thus, in
26
the bispherical coordinate system, the Green’s function due to a dipole is

expressed as:
0 pµ ∂Gq pη ∂Gq pϕ ∂Gϕ
Gp = P · ∇ Gq = + + (2.25)
hµ ∂µ hη ∂η hϕ ∂µ
Then, the induced charges on tip due to an arbitrary dipole is calculated as:
∂Gp pµ ∂ 2 Gq pη ∂ 2 Gq pϕ ∂ 2 Gϕ
ρs = −ε = ε( + + ) = ρsµ + ρsη + ρsϕ (2.26)
∂n hµ ∂µ2 hη ∂η∂µ hϕ ∂µ∂µ
where ρsµ , ρsη and ρsφ are given as following form:
∞ X
X n
ρsµ = ρm (−0.5L−0.5
c sinh µc ·L0.5 0.5 0.5 2
0 ·Al ·N ·sinh N µc +Lc ·L0 ·Al ·N ·cosh N µc )
n=0 m=0
(2.27)
∞ X n
X De Cpη 0
ρsη = cos(m(φ − φc ))Pnm (cos η) · L0.5
0 Kµ (2.28)
h h
n=0 m=0 ηc µ0
∞ X n
X −M pϕ 0
ρsϕ = m sin(m(φ − φc ))Pnm (cos η) · L00.5 Kµ (2.29)
h h
n=0 m=0 ϕc µ0
with
pµ N (n + m)! m
ρm = Pn (cos η)Pnm (cos ηc )m cos(m(φ − φc )) (2.30)
2hµc hµ0 π (n − m)!
2 sinh N (µ0 − µ) sinh N µc
Kµ = (2.31)
sinh N µ0
1
De = (cosh µc − cos ηc )−0.5 · sin ηc Pc + (cosh µc − cos ηc )0.5 · Pc 0 (2.32)
2
in which Pc = Pnm (cos ηc ), C = m (n+m)!/(4aπ(n−m)!), L0 = cosh µ−cos η,

Lc = cosh µc − cos ηc and Al = 1/N a sinh(N µ0 ). The calculation of hµc , hµ0 ,
hηc , and hϕc can be obtained from Eq. (2.11) and Eq. (2.12).
2.3.4 Numerical validation and conclusions
Figure 2.6 presents a typical potential distribution of tip-ground system, in

which the 2D axisymmetric electrostatic COMSOL mode analysis is employed
to verify the solution in Eq. (2.26) with the consideration that the size of tip
27
Fig. 2.6 Typical potential distribution of tip-ground system for equivalent-

sphere model.
is much larger than the wavelength. Actually, if the operating frequency is

1 GHz, then the wavelength is 0.3 m, which is much larger than a nanometer
tip. In simulation, tip is set to be a perfect conducting sphere with radius of
a = 60 nm having a constant 1 V potential. For convenience, the induced
dipole is replaced by a very small dielectric sphere with radius of 3 nm and
permittivity of εr = 10, where the dipole moment of this sphere can be
expressed as [140]:
εr − 1
p = 4πε0 a3 ( )E (2.33)
εr + 2
in which E is the electric field in absence of dielectric sphere, and has the
following relationship with the electrical field inside the sphere (Ein ).
εr + 2
E= Ein (2.34)
3
Figure 2.7 shows the surface charge density on the tip of φ = 0 surface
induced by a unit dipole placed along the η direction, where position of the
dipole is µc = 2.1, ηc = arcsin(tanh µc ), and φc = 0. The sphere tip is
positioned at µ = 2.81. Figure 2.8 shows the surface charge density on the
28
Fig. 2.7 Surface charge density on the tip of φ = 0 surface induced by a unit
dipole placed along the η direction, where horizontal coordinate represents
the X coordinate of the tip surface.
tip of φ = 0 surface induced by a unit dipole placed along the φ direction,

where position of the dipole is µc = 2.1, ηc = 2π/3, and φc = 0. The sphere
tip is represented by µ = 2.81. And it is seen that analytical solution matches
quite well with simulation results for both cases, which verifies the analytical
solution in Eq. (2.26).
Fig. 2.8 Surface charge density on the tip of φ = 0 surface induced by a unit
dipole placed along the φ direction, where horizontal coordinate represents
the X coordinate of the tip surface.
29
To sum up, this section has introduced the analytical solution of Green’s
function which can be used to solve tip-sample interaction problem of
equivalent-sphere model in near-field microwave microscopy, and this solution
is verified by COMSOL software. However, the equivalent-sphere model has
its limitations. As is found by other researchers [112, 114], the accuracy of
solving tip-sample interaction problem by replacing a practical tip with a
small conducting sphere is questionable when the sample under test is thick.
The inaccuracy is due to the important contributions from the upper part of
tip. In next section, a concept of effective height is proposed to further study
the contributions from the upper part of tip, and the limitations of equivalent-
sphere are also verified in experiment by the measurement of microwave
impedance microscopy.
To sum up, although approximating a practical tip by a sphere is simple
in solving tip-sample interaction problem in NFMM, it has limitations and
constraints. A more general and effective approach is needed, and Chapter 3
of the thesis will introduce a novel forward problem solver which is able to
effectively solve general tip-sample interaction problem in NFMM.
2.4 Quantitative analysis of effective height of
probes in NFMM
As mentioned in last section, equivalent-sphere model has limitations in

solving tip-sample interaction problem, and thus many researchers focus on
studying numerical methods to solve the problem. Nevertheless, tip-sample
interaction problem is difficult to be numerically solved due to the high
computational cost involved. This section proposes a concept of effective
height which is able to reduce the computational domain of tip-sample
30
interaction problem.
NFMM typically uses a metallic probe (a tapering tip) to scan across
various points (~r) on the surface of a sample while maintaining a tip-sample
spacing (l ). The sample is typically mounted on an electrical ground surface.
The capacitance between the tip and the ground surface C(~r, l) changes when
the tip is near or upon a perturbation in the sample [109, 141, 142], and this is
illustrated in Fig. 2.9(a). For convenience, C(~r, l) is denoted as C(l) unless a
mention of scanning point ~r is strictly needed in this study. The capacitance
C(l) is a function of the sample properties (permittivity, conductivity and
topography), the geometry of the tip, and tip-sample spacing. In general,
NFMM measures different quantities under different modes, and the measured
parameters are directly related with C(l), C 0 (l) = ∂C(l)/∂l, and C 00 (l) =
2
∂ 2 C(l)/∂l under their own mode, respectively.
To accurately model the tip-sample interaction and the measurement
quantities is of critical importance to understand the measured signal and
isolate or interpret the sample parameters (which are of ultimate importance
in microscopy) from the measured quantities. Thus, in general, it is preferred
that the measurement quantities are less sensitive to the tip geometry,
more sensitive to the perturbations in the sample, and that the tip-sample
interaction is easy to model. Several equivalent models have been adopted by
researchers for modelling the tip-sample interaction in near-field microwave
microscopy. Among them, replacing the tip by a small conducting sphere is
widely used to approximate tip-sample interaction [99, 137], but the accuracy
of this approximation is questionable, due to the important contribution from
the upper part of tip [112, 114] and cantilever [114, 116, 119]. Although the
cantilever can be shielded before experiments [7, 110], the computational cost
for evaluating tip-sample interaction in numerical model is extremely high due
31
to the large size of tip cone part.

This section proposes a concept of effective height of tip which is sufficient
for modelling the tip-sample accurately for practical purposes. This concept
of effective height of tip is very useful in reducing computational area of
evaluating tip-sample interaction, determining the sensitivity of the above
three capacitance related parameters to the tip height, and explaining the
conclusions in previous literatures such as [143, 144]. This approach also
exposes the incompleteness of arguments often used in the context of tip-
sample interaction for near-field microwave microscopy. Most importantly,
the conclusions made in this section are very helpful in improving imaging
resolution in NFMM. In experimental part, the validity of the concept of
effective height is studied using microwave impedance microscopy [3] that
involves pyramid tip with approximately 5.3 µm [6] and circular cone Pt tip
with approximately 100 µm [7] measuring thin and thick samples with either
dielectric or conducting materials.
2.4.1 Experimental details and analysis approach
Setup: All experiments and numerical results shown here correspond to

microwave impedance microscopy [3] setup, a simplified schematic of which is
shown in Fig. 2.9(a), where MIM measures a complex valued signal amplified
by the microwave circuits.
Tip geometry: An example of tip geometry used in numerical analysis is
shown in Fig. 2.9(a), and it can be depicted by tip height H, radius of apex
part r, and half cone angle θ. The tip-sample spacing l is the distance between
the lowest point of the apex and the upper surface of the sample. As is shown
in Fig. 2.10(a) and (b), two probes have been used in experiment, the first
probe is a pyramidal probe with the height of approximately H = 5.3 µm and
32
Fig. 2.9 (a) A simple schematic of microwave impedance microscopy with

cone-sphere tip. Unless stated otherwise, H = 15 µm, r = 50 nm, θ = 20◦ ,
hs = 200 nm, l = 20 nm, and εr = 3.9 are used for numerical analysis (Not
to scale). (b) Discretization of the tip.
half cone angle θ = 35◦ [6]. The second probe is a Pt probe [7] with a height
of approximately H = 100 µm and half cone angle θ = 6.5◦ , where the probe’s
apex is approximately sphere. The SEM image and detailed information of
geometries for both tips have been included in experimental validation part
in Fig. 2.10(a) and (b).
Samples: For numerical analysis, any point in the sample is characterized
by the relative permittivity εr , which may be complex valued if the material
at that point is conducting. In general, this section considers the sample as
made of silica SiO2 with relative permittivity εr = 3.9 of height 200 nm. If
different materials or heights have been used, the details are specified in the
relevant results. Samples used in the experiments include bulk homogeneous
SiO2 with the height of 2 µm (thick sample) and aluminum disk with the
height of 12 nm on a silicon substrate of thickness 100 nm [110] (thin sample).
A thin layer of aluminum dot is assumed to be oxidized and thus composed
of aluminum dioxide Al2 O3 .
Analysis approach and implementation details: As discussed before, the
analysis approach in this section is based on the effective height which is
33
(a) (b)
Fig. 2.10 (a) SEM image of the pyramid tip [6] in MIM measurement. (b)
SEM image of the Pt tip [7] in MIM measurement.
sufficient for modelling the tip-sample interaction accurately for practical

purposes, and the simulation is conducted in COMSOL Multiphysics of
concerned parameters under a tip-sample bias of 1 V . To remove large
background effects in C(l) and C 0 (l), whenever C(l) and C 0 (l) are considered
in this section, a reference value C(lref ) and C 0 (lref ) at a large tip-sample
distance (lref = 500 nm) have been subtracted from C(l) and C 0 (l),
respectively. For C 00 (l), the background effects are eliminated by taking
the second order derivative of capacitance. In the analysis approach,
the cumulative contribution is considered at a variable height h for each
parameter. For this purpose, tip is discretized into a total number of N
small elements, and, as is depicted in Fig. 2.9(b), the total charges on each
element is calculated as Q1 , Q2 , ..., QM , QM +1 , ..., QN with the M th element
corresponding to a variable height h. Specifically, when the geometry of the
whole tip is taken into account, the value of C, C 0 , and C 00 at a tip-sample
0 00
distance l are calculated as CH (l), CH (l), and CH (l), respectively. Therefore,
34
cumulative contribution for C at the height of h can be defined as:

M
X
Cc (l, h) = [Qi (l) − Qi (lref )]/CH (l) × 100% (2.35)
i=1
0
Similarly, C at the height of h is defined by finite difference as:
M
X
Cc0 (l, h) = 0
Di /CH (l) × 100% (2.36)
i=1
with
[(Qi (l + ∆l) − Qi (l − ∆l)) − (Qi (lref + ∆l) − Qi (lref − ∆l))]
Di = (2.37)
2∆l
where ∆l is a small perturbation of tip-sample distance, and cumulative
contribution for C 00 at the height of h is defined as:
M
X [Qi (l + ∆l) − 2Qi (l) + Qi (l − ∆l)]
Cc00 (l, h) = 00
/CH (l) × 100% (2.38)
i=1
∆l2
It is evident that h = 0, and h = H are the two extremes which
correspond to zero contribution and 100% contribution, respectively, to any
parameter. The effective height he is further defined as the height h at which
the cumulative contribution is 98%. Obviously as shown in Fig. 2.9(b), the
upper cone part need not to be modelled when the effective height he of a
practical tip used in experiment is smaller than the tip height H, and thus
complexity involved with the large size of the tip can be dispensed away.
2.4.2 Results and discussions
2.4.2.1 Cumulative contribution of C 0 (h), C 0 (h), and C 00 (h)
Figure 2.11(a) and 2.11(b) present the cumulative contribution of C(h), C 0 (h),
and C 00 (h) for the typical model illustrated in Fig. 2.9(a) with tip-sample
spacing l = 20 nm. It is noted that the results presented in Fig. 2.11
follow the same general trends for other values of tip-sample spacing. The
value l = 20 nm is used because small tip-sample spacing implies very strong
35
(a) (b)
Fig. 2.11 Cumulative contribution of C(h), C 0 (h), and C 00 (h) for the typical
model illustrated in Fig. 2.9(a) for (a) dielectric material and (b) metal.
coupling between the sample and tip. It is found from Fig. 2.11(a) that the
apex part of the tip (which corresponds to the first point with h = 0.033 µm)
contributes approximately 5.5%, 55% and 89% to the total value for C 00 (h),
C 0 (h), and C 00 (h) when dielectric material is considered, respectively.
Another remarkable phenomenon is that the upper cone part contributes
barely to the total value of C 0 (h) and C 00 (h), whereas it keeps contributing
to the value of C(h). The reason is that the upper cone part is far away
from the sample and ground, and can be treated as stray capacitance which
is approximately linear to tip-sample distance l [114, 118]. Therefore, the
capacitance contribution from the upper part can be expressed as Cup =
Kl + c, in which K and c are constant coefficients related with tip geometries
and sample properties. For C 0 (h) and C 00 (h), the stray capacitance from
upper cone part is either subtracted by taking a reference point or eliminated
by taking the second order derivative, whereas the upper cone part keeps
contributing to C even when it is far away from the sample. Thus, considering
the effective height is only meaningful when C 0 (h) and C 00 (h) is evaluated.
As is shown in Fig. 2.11(a), the effective heights he of the dielectric materials
36
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 2.12 Effective height for C 0 as a function of relative permittivity (εr ) for
(a) three different sample heights hs = 20 nm, hs = 200 nm, hs = 500 nm,
(b) three different apex radii r = 50 nm, r = 150 nm, and r = 500 nm, (c)
three different tip half-cone angles: θ = 6◦ , θ = 20◦ , and θ = 35◦ , and (d)
three different reference distances l = 5 nm, l = 12 nm, and l = 20 nm.
Unless stated otherwise in each case, all the other parameters are the same
as that in Fig. 2.9(a).
in Fig. 2.9(a) are 4.7 µm and 0.6 µm for C 0 (h) and C 00 (h), respectively.
Compared with dielectric materials, it is found from Fig. 2.11(b) that the
lower part of the tip contributes more to the total value when metal is
considered, which results in a smaller effective height for both C 0 (h) and
C 00 (h). Specifically, when the dielectric materials are replaced by metal, the
effective height for C 0 (h) and C 00 (h) are 2.2 µm and 0.3 µm, respectively, and
37
it is also noted that the most upper part contribution still cannot be neglected
for C(h) even when the material under the tip is perfect conductor.
As compared to C 0 , it is concluded that the effective height of C 00 is much
smaller and it is also found that the C 00 has larger contribution from the
apex of the tip, with other parameters being the same, thus making it better
suited to extract localized sample information below the apex and to provide
improved imaging resolution of NFMM. The results in Fig. 2.11(a) and (b)
also explain the conclusion in [143, 144] that the force gradient (proportional
to C 00 ) has better resolution than that of force (proportional to C 0 ) mode in
electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). On contrary, compared with C 00 , one of
the advantages of C 0 is that it is easier to evaluate either in numerical software
or experiment since C 00 requires a second order derivative with respect to tip-
sample distance l.
2.4.2.2 Effective height of C 0 (h) and C 00 (h)
As is mentioned previously, this section considers the effective height he of the

tip for different sample properties, tip geometries, and tip-sample distances,
and the results have been presented in Fig. 2.12(a)-(d). It is found from Fig.
2.12(a) that, as a general result, he is a decreasing function of the relative
permittivity εr and an increasing function of sample height hs . It is also
noted that he increases fast when εr is smaller than 5, and becomes almost
independent from εr when relative permittivity is larger than 30. Figure
2.12(b) and (c) show the effects of tip geometries by considering different apex
radii and half cone angles, and it is seen that tips with larger r and smaller
θ have smaller effective height. With other parameters unchanged, larger
apex radius means larger area of lower part of the tip and thus contribution
comes more from that part for such tips. Moreover, the effects of tip-sample
38
distances on effective height are considered, and the results are shown in
Fig. 2.12(d). It suggests that the model with smaller tip-sample distance
has smaller effective height for the interaction concentrates more on the apex
part.
In table 2.1, the effective height he of C 00 (h) for typical tips and samples
is presented, and it is found that the effects of relative permittivity, sample
height, apex radius, half cone angle and tip-sample distance have on the
effective height for C 00 (h) are very similar to that for C 0 (h). Whereas,
compared with C 0 , he is much smaller when C 00 is considered.
Since the effective heights for both C 00 (h) and C 0 vary in a small range
with the changes of tip geometries and sample properties, it is easy for us to
determine approximate values of he based on Fig. 2.12(a)-(d) and table 2.1
to model tip-sample interaction problems concerned with different kinds of
tips and materials practically. Specifically, to calculate the effective height he
of a practical setup, one need to first determine an initial value of effective
height h0 according to the half cone angle of the practical tip θ from Fig.
2.12(c) and the first three rows of table 2.1 without consideration of the
effects of tip radius and the thickness of sample. The half apex angel θ is
in the range of 6◦ ≤ θ ≤ 35◦ . Then, an adjustment e1 is added on h0 , i.e.,
he = h0 + e1 , following the relation e1 ≈ 7(hs − 200) − 330(r − 50)0.4 and
e1 ≈ 1.1(hs − 200) − 51(r − 50)0.4 for C 0 and C 00 , respectively, in which all the
units are nanometers and tip radius and sample thickness are in the range of
50 nm ≤ r ≤ 500 nm and hs ≤ 2 µm, respectively. In addition, it should
be noted that the empirical formulas of effective height are not valid for the
“tip” that has a larger bottom part but a smaller upper part.
39
Table 2.1 Effective height he of C 00 (h) for typical tips and samples in NFMM
(Units: µm).
εr 3.5 5 7 10 15 30 50
hs = 200 nm, θ = 6◦ 0.27 0.24 0.22 0.21 0.2 0.2 0.2
l = 20 nm, θ = 20◦ 0.67 0.54 0.46 0.41 0.38 0.35 0.34
r = 50 nm θ = 35◦ 1.08 0.91 0.79 0.71 0.64 0.58 0.56
hs = 200 nm, r = 20 nm 0.93 0.82 0.74 0.69 0.65 0.6 0.59
l = 20 nm, θ = 20◦ r = 100 nm 0.35 0.37 0.23 0.21 0.2 0.18 0.18
hs = 200 nm, l = 30 nm 0.83 0.72 0.64 0.59 0.55 0.51 0.5
r = 50 nm, θ = 20◦ l = 40 nm 0.96 0.84 0.77 0.71 0.67 0.64 0.62
r = 50 nm, θ = 20◦ hs = 300 nm 0.8 0.65 0.57 0.51 0.48 0.45 0.44
l = 20 nm, hs = 20 nm 0.41 0.38 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.33 0.32
2.4.3 Experiment validation
In the first example, experiment is conducted using a long Pt tip [7] with
the height of approximately 100 µm to measure both bulk SiO2 and Al dot
sample [110] with microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). The detailed
information and SEM image of the Pt tip [7] are presented in Fig. 2.10(a).
For bulk SiO2 sample, it is homogeneous and the height of it is about 2 µm,
as is presented in Fig. 2.13(a). In simulation, the effective height he of C 0
for SiO2 is first determined based on the equation he = h0 + e1 , in which
h0 ≈ 3.5 µm and e1 ≈ 12.5 µm are obtained from Fig. 2.12(c) and the
expression for e1 in previous section, respectively. Then, a truncated tip with
H = 16 µm is used to replace the practical Pt tip when C 0 is evaluated in
COMSOL Multiphysics (2D AC/DC electrostatic module). It is found from
Fig. 2.13(a) that simulation results agree well with experiment results when
using a truncated tip with H = 16 µm to model a practical Pt tip with
H ≈ 100 µm. Figure 2.13(a) also presents the simulation results from a
equivalent-sphere tip model of which the radius is equal to the apex radius
of Pt tip. It suggests that discrepancies are found between experimental
and simulated results from the equivalent-sphere model, which indicates that
40
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 2.13 C 0 as a function of tip-sample spacing l with Pt tip measuring (a)

bulk SiO2 and (b) Al dot sample for both simulation and experiment results.
(c) C 0 as a function of tip-sample spacing l with pyramid tip measuring Al
dot sample for both simulation and experiment results. (Blue square denotes
the simulation results from the truncated tip with effective height; Black line
denotes the experimental results; Red star denotes the simulation results from
equivalent-sphere tip of which the radius is equal to apex radius of practical
tip.)
replacing the tip by a small conducting sphere is not accurate in modeling

the tip-sample interaction.
For Al dot sample, as is shown in Fig. 2.13(b), there is a layer of oxide
with height of 2 − 5 nanometers formed on Al with the height of 12 − 15
nanometers and the substrate layer is SiO2 with the height of approximately
100 nm. In simulation, the effective height of C 0 for Al dot sample is first
41
calculated as 3 µm, and a truncated tip with H = 3 µm is used to replace

the practical Pt tip when C 0 is evaluated in COMSOL Multiphysics for Al
dot sample. As is presented in Fig. 2.13(b), it suggests that the simulation
results match perfectly with experiment results when C 0 is evaluated for Al
dot sample. Similarly, the results obtained from the equivalent-sphere tip
model are also compared with experimental results in Fig. 2.13(b), and it
suggests that discrepancies exist between experimental and simulated results
obtained by equivalent-sphere model.
Further experiment is conducted using a pyramid tip [6] with the height
of 5.3 µm to measure Al dot sample. The detailed information and SEM
image of the pyramid tip [6] are depicted in Fig. 2.10(b). Since the geometry
of the pyramid tip is not axisymmetric, three dimensional (3D) COMSOL
Multiphysic module has to be applied to solve tip-sample interaction in
simulation. By calculating the effective height he according to the equation
he = h0 + e1 in previous section, it is found that the tip height H = 5.3 µm
is not large enough to make us use truncated tip in simulation to model the
practical tip. Thus, the complete pyramid tip with H = 5.3 µm is used
in simulation, and Fig. 2.13(c) presents the performance of both simulation
and experiment results as a function of tip-sample spacing l for C 0 . It is
found that the results match well between experiment and simulation, but the
performance is not good when replacing the whole tip by a small conducting
sphere of which the radius is equal to the apex radius of the pyramid tip.
Apparent discrepancies are found between experimental and simulated results
obtained by equivalent-sphere model, which further verifies the inaccuracy of
using equivalent-sphere model to model the tip-sample interaction in MIM.
42
2.5 Summary
This chapter mainly studies the approach to quantitatively interpret sample

properties from measured quantities in NFMM, which can be decomposed into
two issues. The first issue is to determine the relationship between measured
quantities and tip-sample impedance, and in this chapter, an impedance
variation based method is proposed to solve this problem. The second issue
is to establish the relationship between tip-sample impedance and material
properties, i.e., to solve the tip-sample interaction problem, which is the most
crucial part in quantitatively extracting properties of materials from measured
signals.
To deal with tip-sample interaction problem, Green’s function is firstly
derived to calculate charges on tips in equivalent-sphere model, and the
solution is verified by COMSOL software. The analytical solution of
Green’s function can help us comprehend the principles behind NFMM,
such as the effects of each geometry parameter on tip charge variations.
Moreover, compared with numerically calculating Green’s function, the usage
of analytical solution saves a lot of time and computer memory. The
limitations of equivalent-sphere model are also discussed in this chapter.
Then, to reduce computational region of evaluating tip-sample interaction
in numerical method and to determine the sensitivity of the capacitance
related quantities to the tip height, a concept of effective height is proposed
to analyze the contribution of tips in NFMM. The original contributions of
the “effective height” section are summarized as follows. Firstly, it is found
that the effective height for the first and second derivative of capacitance with
respect to vertical distance is much smaller than the one for the capacitance,
which has the advantage of greatly reducing the computational complexity.
43
Secondly, the effective height of C 0 and C 00 considering a wide range of

tip and sample information is established, which is helpful to quickly and
approximately estimate the effective height of other practical tips. Thirdly,
this section has discussed the effects of relative permittivity, sample height,
apex radius, half cone angle and tip-sample distance have on the effective
height, and the concept of effective height provides a unified solution to
explain some important conclusions in previous literatures. Fourthly, all the
conclusions in this section provide very helpful instructions for improving
imaging resolution in NFMM, since a small effective height is in correlation
to a small area of sample that contributes to measured signal, i.e., better
resolution.
Additionally, although the concept of effective height is able to reduce
computational cost to some extent, the full numerical solution of tip-sample
interaction problems is challenging because it still involves complex 3D
geometries that cover a wide range of sizes, from nanometric contribution of
the sample features to micrometric contribution of the tip. The next chapter
will introduce a novel method based on finite element-boundary integral to
further reduce the computational domain.
44
Chapter 3
A Novel Forward Solver in

NFMM
3.1 Introduction
As introduced in previous chapter, replacing the tip by a small conducting

sphere is widely used to approximate tip-sample interaction [99, 137], but
the accuracy of this approximation is questionable, due to the important
contribution from the upper part of tip [112, 114]. Besides the equivalent-
sphere model, approximate analytical solution is also used in solving tip-
sample interaction problem [21, 145], but the tip geometry is limited to very
few specific types [146–148]. More importantly, fabricated tips can hardly be
of a rigorously regular shape in practice, which further makes the approximate
analytical solutions inaccurate and inflexible. Also, the above two methods
are mainly used to calculate homogeneous samples and can hardly be applied
to samples with inhomogeneous perturbation presented.
Another well-known approach is to obtain the capacitance between
a metallic tip and an inhomogeneous sample using a boundary integral
45
3 A NOVEL FORWARD SOLVER IN NFMM
method [149], but quantitatively speaking, the results can hardly be accurate
especially when the perturbation in sample is inhomogeneous due to approx-
imations made in the theoretical part of the method. Moreover, an algorithm
called generalized image charge method (GICM) [150] has also been developed
and widely used. It has been applied to evaluate electrostatic interaction
between the tip and metallic nanowire over the surface by using the Green’s
function of segment [151], and to calculate electric field at very small tip-
sample distances [152]. Nevertheless, the models used in these papers are 2D
symmetric, and when the setup of tip-sample interaction is asymmetric, the
approach can hardly be accurate since it is derived under symmetric setup.
Therefore, a fast, accurate and general approach to evaluate the tip-
sample interaction with arbitrary tip and inhomogeneous perturbation is
yet to be realized, and this chapter proposes an approach based on finite
element-boundary integral (FE-BI) methods to fill this gap [4, 153]. Based
on the fact that only a limited region beneath the tip contributes to the
tip-sample capacitance in NFMM [153], the computational domain of tip-
sample interaction problem can be reduced to a block area by applying
Green’s Theorem in the proposed method, and it is fast when computing a
3D tip-sample interaction problem for both insulating and conductive sample.
Contrast capacitance due to various perturbations is calculated using this
method and compared with both numerical results obtained by commercial
software and experimental images of MIM.
In an MIM measurement, GHz voltage modulation is delivered to a
metallic tip, usually of pyramid shape with a base length of about 5 µm and
an apex diameter of nearly 50 nm [6]. When the tip is brought close to and
scanned across the surface of a sample, variations of tip-sample admittance are
recorded, the imaginary and real parts of which are denoted as MIM-Im and
46
MIM-Re signals, respectively. For samples under test the major contribution
of impedance perturbation comes from variations of dielectric constant and
conductivity. Semi-quantitative information of local permittivity or electrical
conductivity is obtained by comparing MIM data to admittance-permittivity
or conductivity curve (response curve) simulated in commercial finite analysis
software. Usually a 2D axisymmetric model of a cone-shaped tip on a
large homogeneous sample is used to calculate the admittance between the
two, whereas a point-by-point full 3D simulation remains impractical due to
extremely large computational cost. A fast, general method of calculating
admittance between arbitrary tip and inhomogeneous samples is therefore
highly desirable for experiments.
This chapter is organized as follows. Section 3.2 describes the theoretical
principle of the forward solver, and proposes an approach to implement it.
In section 3.3, the results are presented when the perturbation in sample
under test is inhomogeneous, and the image of capacitance variation due
to an “H” shape perturbation structure is shown. Also, the computation
time of applying the proposed method in solving the scanning problems is
compared with that of using COMSOL Multiphysics. To further demonstrate
the FE-BI based forward solver, the image of a buried sample obtained by
MIM in experiment is compared with capacitance variation computed by the
proposed method in section 3.4. Finally, original contributions of this chapter
are summarized in section 3.5.
47
Fig. 3.1 A typical near-field microwave microscopy scheme including

geometry and parameters used in the calculation of this chapter: H = 5 µm,
h = 0.485 µm, θ = 30◦ , Wp = 1.2 µm, Ws = 6 µm, hp = 0.4 µm, tip sample
distance l = 20 nm, and hs = 0.6 µm (Not to scale).
3.2 Theory and principle of forward solver
3.2.1 Model description
The geometry and parameters used in the calculation are sketched in Fig. 3.1,
and this section considers a widely used cone-sphere tip which is depicted by
the height of the whole tip H, height of cone h, and half cone angle θ. It is
noted that the tip can be of arbitrary geometry and the cone sphere tip is
chosen as an example to present the modeling. In this thesis, frequency is set
to be 1 GHz unless otherwise stated. A three-dimensional sample with two
layers is considered in this chapter. One layer is called feature layer which is a
cuboid region with height hp and width Ws , another one is a bottom surface
grounded substrate layer with height hs and width Ws . All perturbations
are located inside a finite region in the feature layer, which is denoted as the
domain I.
Here, the domain I is chosen as a cuboid with width Wp and height hp .
48
Outside the domain I, other regions of feature layer and substrate layer are
filled with known materials and here SiO2 with relative permittivity of 3.9
is used for both of them as an example in this chapter. In this model, it is
assumed that the top surface of the sample is flat and the distance between
the bottom of tip and the top surface of sample is l.
3.2.2 Calculation of potential
Under a tip-sample bias of 1 V , the background potential, i.e., with the

absence of perturbation, is denoted as φi (r). The task is to calculate the
change in capacitance, referred to as contrast capacitance, when perturbation
is present. The model in this chapter calculates the potential inside domain I
using finite element method (FEM) and deals with the potential outside via
the boundary element method (BEM). In domain I, the potential satisfies
the following equations:
∇ · (ε(r)∇φ(r)) = 0 (3.1)
For dielectric samples, ε(r) is a real value representing permittivity of sample,

whereas for conductive materials, ε(r) is replaced by ε(r) − jσ(r)/ω with
σ(r) and ω to be electrical conductivity and angular frequency, respectively.
Following the finite element method [154], domain I is discretized into
rectangular brick elements, and Eq. (3.1) can be discretized as:
K · φ − B · qb = 0 (3.2)
where K and B are evaluated as integral over domain I element and its
boundary element respectively. q b is corresponding to potential derivative at
∂φb
the boundary with q b = ∂n0
, where φb and n0 are the potential on the boundary
and outer normal direction of the boundary, respectively. According to
Green’s Theorem, the electrical potential in the exterior region of domain
49
I satisfies the following equation [140]:

∂φ(r0 )
I
φ(r) = φi (r) + [G(r, r0 )ε(r0 )
∂n0
s
∂G(r, r0 ) 0
−φ(r0 )ε(r0 ) ]dr (3.3)
∂n0
where s and n0 are the boundary of domain I and its inward normal direction,
respectively. G(r, r0 ) is the potential due to a unit charge (Green’s function)
in the background medium, i.e., when there is no perturbation presented in
the sample. Under most cases, G(r, r0 ) has no analytical solution but it can
be evaluated numerically easily using commercial software. In detail, the
Green’s function G(r, r0 ) is calculated as:
∇ · (ε(r)∇G(r, r0 )) = −δ(r − r0 ) (3.4)
The physical meaning of G(r, r0 ) is the potential at the position of r due

to a unit point charge at the position r0 . Thus, for the case when there is
no analytical solution, it can be numerically calculated by putting a unit
charge at the position of r0 and evaluate the potential at r. For calculating
∂G(r, r0 )/∂n0 , one only needs to replace the charge with a dipole [140] due to
reciprocity principle.
Following the discretization method in FEM, the potential φb on boundary
of domain I satisfies the following equation by applying collocation method
to Eq. (3.3):
H · φb + G · q b = b (3.5)
where H and G are calculated as integrals of ∂G(r, r0 )/∂n0 and G(r, r0 ) over
boundary element of domain I, respectively, and b is corresponding to φi (r)
on the boundary of domain I. By combining Eq. (3.2) and Eq. (3.5), the
potential on the boundary of domain can be easily solved.
50
3.2.3 Calculation of contrast capacitance
A homogeneous sample which excludes the perturbation is chosen as a

reference model to obtain reference capacitance Cref between tip and ground.
Contrast capacitance (denoted as Ccontrast ), which is defined as the difference
between capacitance in the presence of perturbation and Cref , is evaluated
in this chapter. The proposed method to calculate contrast capacitance in
this chapter can also be directly applied to calculate capacitance derivative
with respect to tip sample distance (dC/dl), which is a parameter widely
used in electrostatic force microscopy [111–113, 155, 156]. One only need
to calculate capacitance for two different tip-sample distances, and then
use finite difference to calculate dC/dl. Other parameters related with
capacitance in NFMM, such as d2 C/dl2 [117, 136, 143], can also be calculated
in a similar way.
To calculate contrast capacitance between tip and ground, N is defined as
the inward normal direction of tip surface. Taking derivative of both sides in
Eq. (3.3) with respect to N , integrating it over the tip, and then multiplying
both sides by the permittivity of air, Eq. (3.3) becomes:
∂G(r, r0 ) 0 ∂φ(r0 ) ∂(∂G(r, r0 )/∂n0 )
I I I I
∆φ = [ε0 ε(r ) 0
]drdT − [ε 0 φ(r0 )ε(r0 )]drdT
∂N ∂n ∂N
tip s tip s
(3.6)
in which
I
∂φ(r) ∂φi (r)
∆φ = [ε0 − ε0 ] dT (3.7)
∂N ∂N
tip
For ∆φ , an integral of ε0 ∂φ(r)/∂N and ε0 ∂φi (r)/∂N over tip surface are
total charges on the tip with and without perturbation presented, respectively.
Since the voltage on tip is 1 V , the left hand side of Eq. (3.6) is directly equal
to the contrast capacitance defined in section previously. On the right hand
51
side of Eq. (3.6), if one changes the integral order, it is easy to get the contrast
capacitance between tip and ground due to the presence of perturbation in
sample:
∂φ(r0 )
I
Ccontrast = [Gc (r, r0 )ε(r0 )
∂n0
s
∂Gc (r, r0 ) 0
−φ(r0 )ε(r0 ) ]dr (3.8)
∂n0
where Gc (r, r0 ) and ∂Gc (r, r0 )/∂n0 can be calculated as the total charges on
the tip due to a unit charge (Green’s function) and dipole in background,
respectively. In detail,
∂G(r, r0 )
I
0
Gc (r, r ) = ε0 dT (3.9)
∂N
tip
It is obvious from the definition of G(r, r0 ) in Eq. (3.4) that the physical
meaning of Gc (r, r0 ) is the total charges on the tip due to a unit charge.
Similarly, when there is no analytical solution for Gc (r, r0 ) and ∂Gc (r, r0 )/∂n0 ,
they can be calculated by evaluating the total charges on the tip when a unit
charge and dipole are presented, respectively.
For Eq. (3.8), using the same process in discretizing Eq. (3.3), contrast
capacitance on tip can be evaluated as:
T T
Ccontrast = −L · φb − M · q b (3.10)
The matrices L and M are calculated as integrals of Gc (r, r0 ) and

∂Gc (r, r0 )/∂n0 over boundary element of domain I, and the superscript T
denotes the transpose operator. For the perturbation with conductive
materials presented, capacitance variation will be frequency dependent. The
relationship between charges on the tip and capacitance is:
I(ω) Gts (ω)
Q(ω) = = V (ω)(−j + C(ω)) (3.11)
jω ω
where Gts is the conductance between tip and sample. Under a tip-sample
52
Fig. 3.2 Contrast capacitance due to the perturbation of domain I which is

filled with homogeneous oxide with relative permittivity εx for both FE-BI
method and COMSOL values.
bias of 1 V , capacitance is equal to the real part of Q(ω), and combined with
Eq. (3.10), one can get:
T T
Ccontrast (ω) = Re(−L · φb − M · q b ) (3.12)
where Re denotes taking the real part of a complex value. Similarly,

considering the relationship between Q(ω) and Gts , contrast conductance is
obtained from Eq. (3.10):
T T
∆Gts (ω) = Im[(L · φb + M · q b )ω] (3.13)
with Im denotes taking the imaginary part of a complex value.
3.3 Numerical validation
3.3.1 Contrast capacitance at one scanning point
Contrast capacitance is evaluated using the FE-BI approach (denoted as Cf e )

in this chapter and compared with simulation result of COMSOL software
(denoted as Ccom ). The first example is concerned with contrast capacitance
53
due to the perturbation of domain I which is filled with homogeneous oxide

with relative permittivity εx for both FE-BI and COMSOL values, and, as
is illustrated in Fig. 3.2, it shows a good agreement between them when εx
varying from 6 to 40. Relative error, which is defined as |Cf e − Ccom |/|Ccom |,
is below 0.4% in Fig. 3.2.
In the second example, domain I is filled with four layers of perturbation
as shown in Fig. 3.3(a), and each layer has a height of hn = 100 nm.
The materials filled in each layer are alumina, an unknown oxide, glass and
silicon with relative permittivity set to be 9.3, εy , 6 and 11.7, respectively.
Contrast capacitance due to this four layers perturbation from both FE-BI
and COMSOL results, with εy varying from 6 to 40, is presented in Fig.
3.3(b). In Fig. 3.3(c), certain oxide is replaced by conductive materials with
relative permittivity of 16 and conductivity of σ varying from 0.02 S/m to
7.82 S/m. It is found that contrast capacitance calculated by FE-BI approach
agrees excellently with that by finite element software for both insulating and
conductive perturbation with relative error smaller than 0.6%.
54
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 3.3 (a) The side view of a sample with four layers of perturbation filled in
domain I. Each layer has a width of Wp and height of hn and these four layers
are filled with alumina, some certain oxide, glass and silicon, respectively. (b)
Capacitance variation due to the four layers of perturbation sample depicted
in Fig. 3.3(a) for both FE-BI method and COMSOL when changing εy from
6 to 40 and (c) changing the conductivity of the second layer from 0.02 S/m
to 7.82 S/m.
55
3.3.2 Effective interaction area
In order to show that the contribution of contrast capacitance in tip-sample

interaction comes primarily from the perturbation of a limited window
(effective interaction area) beneath the tip [153], silicon with permittivity
of 12 is filled in domain I. The width Wp of perturbation domain I is
gradually increased from a small value to 5 µm while other parameters are
kept unchanged. Again, Cref is calculated as the capacitance when there is
no perturbation presented (Wp = 0 µm).
Figure 3.4 shows the contrast capacitance normalized to Wp = 5 µm as a
function of Wp for three different half cone angles of tip, and Fig. 3.5 shows the
normalized contrast for three different substrate heights hs . Conclusions can
be drawn that the contrast capacitance increases when the size of perturbation
domain I is enlarged, but it saturates when Wp reaches some certain value.
The conclusions suggest that only a limited region (effective interaction area)
beneath the tip contributes to the contrast capacitance. Besides, from Fig.
3.4, it is found that with a sharp tip the contrast capacitance increases faster
to saturation than that with a blunt tip, which means that the response on a
Fig. 3.4 Contrast capacitance normalized to Wp = 5 µm as a function of Wp

for three different half cone angles of tip.
56
Fig. 3.5 Contrast capacitance normalized to Wp = 5 µm as a function of Wp

for three different substrate heights hs .
blunt tip comes from a larger region beneath the tip. This conclusion suggests
that under the same condition, high resolution will be achieved for a sharper
tip. From Fig. 3.5, it is seen that, comparing with a thick sample, a thin film
is easier to achieve higher resolution with other parameters being the same.
This conclusion suggests that if it is possible, one should reduce the thickness
of sample under test to achieve better resolution in experiment. One physical
reason behind these conclusions is that the electric field concentrates more
between the tip and ground for a sharper tip or thinner sample.
Another point to be addressed is that in Fig. 3.4 and 3.5, the
perturbation domain I is full of perturbation materials, but in practice
perturbation normally comes from only a fraction of the domain I, for
example, perturbations are often particles or stripes. Further simulation
results also show that, in the latter case, it is much easier for contrast
capacitance to reach saturation point comparing with the former case. This
is due to the fact that for such small perturbation particles or stripes, the
perturbation contribution decreases faster when it is farther away from the
tip.
57
To summarize, for situations where perturbation materials occupy only

a fraction of the domain I, the computational window beneath the tip can
be chosen to be a smaller domain. Further simulation also suggests that for
most of the sample in experiment, Wp corresponding to N Ccontrast = 80% is
good enough for computing contrast capacitance.
3.3.3 Contrast capacitance at different scanning points
In this example, a three dimensional sample with an “H” shape perturbation is

considered, and a cone-sphere tip is applied to scan over this three dimensional
structure with a certain tip-sample distance l. The substrate area is filled
with SiO2 while perturbation region is filled with certain oxide with relative
permittivity of 16. The calculation is done with a finite-element package
COMSOL 4.3 3D solver and the result is used as a benchmark to compare with
the FE-BI results obtained by the method in this chapter. In the calculation of
contrast capacitance using FE-BI method, at each scanning point, a window
with width of 1.2 µm beneath the tip is considered as the perturbation region
Fig. 3.6 Cone-sphere tip scans over a three dimensional sample with an “H”
shape perturbation presented (Wp = 100 nm and Ls = 400 nm).
58
Fig. 3.7 Contrast Contrast capacitance image when tip scans over “H” shape
perturbation (simulation results from COMSOL).
Fig. 3.8 Contrast Contrast capacitance image when tip scans over “H” shape
perturbation (results from FE-BI method).
which contributes to the contrast capacitance.

Figure 3.7 presents the contrast capacitance image when the tip scans over
the sample shown in Fig. 3.6 in COMSOL, and Fig. 3.8 shows the counterpart
obtained by the proposed FE-BI method, where it is seen that both results
agree with each other perfectly. If same computers and discretizations on
domain I are used, for such a pattern, it takes about 130 minutes and more
than 30 GB RAM to finish the simulation in COMSOL whereas it takes
only about 18 minutes and 1 GB RAM using the stored Green’s function
59
to compute the contrast capacitance applying the method introduced in this

chapter. It suggests that the proposed method has great advantage in the
scanning of 3D structure over commercial software.
Moreover, even if the structures (here, the “H” pattern) fabricated
in the same substrate have been changed, one can directly compute the
perturbation on the tip without re-storing the Green’s function. Another
important advantage of the method in this chapter is that it can be directly
applied to inverse problem, and the properties of unknown materials can
be reconstructed by solving the inverse problem. By comparing with the
exact pattern shown in Fig. 3.6, it is seen from Fig. 3.7 and 3.8 that
the perturbation response on a tip is actually a convolution from a region
beneath the tip rather than just from a single pixel beneath the tip. If one
can reconstruct the materials properties by deconvolution, the resolution can
be noticeably improved.
3.4 Experimental validation
Figure 3.9 presents a two layer standard sample for measuring the dielectric
response of microwave impedance microscopy. In the measurement, a pyramid
tip with the height of 5.3 µm , angle of 69◦ and apex diameter approximately
Fig. 3.9 Side view of a buried sample structure, and SiO2 is buried in Al2 O3
layer with a specific pattern.
60
Fig. 3.10 Capacitance varying with tip-sample distance (l) for both EFM
and MIM (scaled). The horizontal axis denotes the tip-sample distance.
of 50 nm is used and the schematic of the pyramid tip is depicted in Fig.

2.10(a) [6]. The sample under test consists of a doped Si layer and Al2 O3
layer with permittivity of 9, and SiO2 with permittivity of 3.9, buried in
Al2 O3 layer with a specific pattern.
In experiment, electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) is used to calibrate
the signal of MIM [118, 157]. In one mode of MIM, measured signal is directly
proportional to capacitance between tip and ground. Thus, as is presented
in Fig. 3.10, if taking tip-sample approach curves at the same scanning point
by both EFM and MIM, the approach curves can be matched between them
by a scaling factor (620 aF/V ) on MIM. Thus, one is able to directly convert
measured signal into capacitance images when tip scans across the sample in
Fig. 3.9 using the scaling factor.
Since there is always an arbitrary offset in the experiment, one needs
to take capacitance difference between two different tip-sample distances to
eliminate it. Figure 3.11(a) presents the capacitance difference image between
tip-sample distance of 0 nm and 200 nm measured by microwave impedance
microscopy. Although there are some small discontinuities due to drifts in
61
experiment, it is found that the buried structure pattern is clearly resolved.

In FE-BI part, contrast capacitance at a tip-sample distance of 0 nm and
200 nm is calculated. Fig. 3.11(b) shows capacitance difference between
tip-sample distance of 0 nm and 200 nm obtained by the FE-BI method in
this chapter. Except for some small discrepancies due to stains in sample
and drifts in experiment, it is found that capacitance difference measured
by experiment matches well with results calculated by FE-BI method. The
data (denoted as A) in the scanning area of Fig. 3.11(a) is also extracted,
and compared with the value of capacitance difference (denoted as B) at the
same positon in Fig. 3.11(b). It is found that the relative error, which is
calculated as |A − B|/|B|, is as small as 3.05%.
62
(a)
(b)
Fig. 3.11 (a) Capacitance difference between tip-sample distance of 0 nm

and 200 nm measured by MIM (dash-line rectangular represents the specific
calculation area in FE-BI method). (b) Capacitance difference between tip-
sample distance of 0 nm and 200 nm computed by FE-BI method in this
chapter. Each pixel has an area of 0.25 × 0.25 um2 .
63
3.5 Summary
In this chapter, a hybrid numerical method combing boundary element and

finite element methods is used to reduce the computational domain of tip-
sample interaction in NFMM into a box (the domain I). The associated
computational costs are largely reduced in tip-sample interaction problem.
The principles behind the approach are firstly derived in this chapter, and
then the proposed approach is verified by both numerical and experimental
methods in this chapter. The original contributions of the method proposed
are summarized as follows.
The first advantage of this approach is that it can be directly applied to
scanning microscopy and saves considerable time and memory. For different
scanning points, the region that perturbs the tip-ground capacitance is limited
to a box (the domain I) beneath the tip and consequently for the materials
outside this region one can treat them as known homogeneous material due to
their negligible contribution to contrast capacitance. Thus, Green’s function
is not changed for different scanning points, and one only needs to change the
value of K matrix that depends on the properties of perturbation materials
during the scanning process. To conclude, the proposed method reduces the
three-dimensional computational domain to the computational box (i.e., the
aforementioned effective region) beneath the tip, which avoids using FEM
to compute the whole computational domain (whatever between the tip and
the ground) during the scanning process. To simulate three-dimensional tip-
sample interaction for scanning points, the proposed method is much faster
than brute force all-domain methods.
The second advantage of this approach is that the framework is applicable
to various models regardless of the tip shape, sample type and perturbation
64
material, and the results are very accurate. For different setting of tips and
samples, one only needs to calculate the corresponding Green’s function on
the boundary of effective region. When analytical Green’s function is not
available, one can numerically calculate it and then save it in the library. Note
that the numerical evaluation of Green’s function is needed only once for a
given experimental setup, and will not change during the scanning process.
The third and most important advantage is that this rigorous approach
can be directly applied to inverse problem in next chapter, where one is able
to reconstruct the materials properties from received signal of NFMM by
deconvolution and noticeably improve resolution.
65
Chapter 4
Nonlinear Image
Reconstruction with Total
Variation in NFMM
4.1 Introduction
As is stated previously, most of the studies in NFMM are limited to qualitative

detecting, and it is still a very challenging task to quantitatively extract
physical properties such as permittivity and conductivity of materials from
received signals, especially for three dimensional inhomogeneous samples
[113–115, 158]. In this chapter, based on the above mentioned forward
problem solver, a fast nonlinear image reconstruction method using conjugate
gradient (CG) algorithm with total variation constraints [158] is presented
to quantitatively restore both permittivity and conductivity information of
inhomogeneous samples from capacitance variation signals. Numerical results
show that the proposed method can accurately reconstruct the permittivity
distribution in three dimensional samples under test. More importantly, it
66
4 NONLINEAR IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION WITH TOTAL
VARIATION IN NFMM
is also found that, by reconstructing the permittivity and conductivity of

samples from the received capacitance signals, the imaging resolution can be
highly improved in NFMM.
This chapter is organized as follows. Section 4.2 describes the theoretical
principle of the reconstruction method, and introduces an efficient CG based
approach with total variation constraints. In section 4.3, the numerical
results for various samples under test are presented, and it is shown that
the proposed method is able to restore permittivity and conductivity from
capacitance variation and improve resolution in NFMM. Finally, the main
original contributions and future work are included in section 4.4.
4.2 Inverse formulation
In the inverse problem, the contrast capacitance between tip and sample is
measured at every scanning point, whereas the permittivity or conductivity
distribution of the sample is unknown and has to be determined.
Defining the matrix P , which picks up the boundary nodes out of all
nodes, the potential at the boundary φb is obtained by combining Eq. (3.2)
and Eq. (3.5):
−1
φb = P · φ = P · K ε · B · G ·b (4.1)
with
−1
K ε = (K + B · G · H · P )−1 (4.2)
Therefore, the contrast capacitance ∆Ci at the ith scanning point is obtained
by
T T i
∆Ci = −L φb − M q b = (M 1 + M 3 ) · K ε · M 2 + M4 (4.3)
T −1 T −1
where M 1 = −L · P , M 2 = B · G · b, M 3 = M · G · H · P , and
67
VARIATION IN NFMM
T −1 i
M4 = −M · G · b. K ε is the value of K ε at the ith scanning point, and
it is also the only term which is related with the unknown permittivity ε in
Eq. (4.3). Then, a nonlinear least squares cost function corresponding to
the residue between measured contrast capacitance and the predicted one is
defined:
S
X
fc = (∆Ci − ∆Cim )2 (4.4)
i=1
where ∆Cim is the measured contrast capacitance at the ith scanning point,
and S represents the total number of scanning points. Since the sample
considered is piecewise constant, the total variation regularization is defined
[158]:
Z p
T (ε) = |∇ε|2 + α2 dI (4.5)
I
where ε is the predicted permittivity, and α is a small positive constant to

keep T (ε) differentiable at ε = 0. Specifically, the total variation T of a
discrete imaging with a M × M sampling grid is expressed as [159, 160]:
M
X −2 q
T (ε) = |εi+1,j − εi,j |2 + |εi,j+1 − εi,j |2 + α2
i,j=0
M
X −2 q
+ |εi+1,M −1 − εi,M −1 |2 + α2
i=0
M
X −2 q
+ |εM −1,j+1 − εM −1,j |2 + α2 (4.6)
j=0
Therefore, one is able to define the objective function with a total variation
regularization term as:
S
X
f (ε) = (∆Ci − ∆Cim )2 + βT (ε) (4.7)
i=1
where β is a regularization parameter to be adjusted in optimization process

[161–163]. The unknown permittivity in sample under test is reconstructed
by minimizing the objective function in Eq. (4.7).
68
VARIATION IN NFMM
4.3 Implementation procedures
In the inverse procedures, conjugate gradient (CG) method is used to

minimize the objective function in Eq. (4.7), and the implementation
procedures of this nonlinear inverse problem are detailed as follows.
• Step 1) Calculate M 1 , M 2 , M 3 , and M 4 in Eq. (4.3).
• Step 2) Initial step, n = 1; Give an initial guess of ε0 = εb , and εb is the

background permittivity.
i
• Step 3) Determine the search direction: Calculate the matrix term K ε ,
objective function f (εn ), and gradient of objective function g(εn ) =
∂f (εn )/∂εn . Then determine the Polak-Ribière-Polyak (PRP) direc-
tions [164]: If n=1, the search direction ρ1 is ρ1 = −g 1 . Otherwise,
ρn = −g n + (Re[(g n − g n−1 )∗ · g n ]/||g n−1 ||2 )ρn−1 , where the superscript
“*” denotes the transpose conjugate operator.
• Step 4) Determine the search length ln according to Wolfe conditions

[164] (Initialize m=0):
– Step 4.1) Calculate f (ε + γ m ρn ) and g(ε + γ m ρn ).
– Step 4.2) If |g(ε + γ m ρn )T | ≤ −σg Tn ρn and f (ε) − f (ε + γ m ρn ) ≥

−δγ m g Tn ρn , where σ and δ are two parameters adjusted in
optimization and 0 < δ < σ < 1, let ln = γ m and move to Step 5).
Otherwise, let ln = γ m , m = m + 1, and go to Step 4.1).
• Step 5) Update εn+1 : εn+1 = εn + ln ρn .
• Step 6) If termination condition is satisfied, stop iteration. Otherwise,

let n = n + 1, and go to step 3).
69
VARIATION IN NFMM
Fig. 4.1 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “H” shape perturbation

presented with Ws = 6 µm, hs = 1 µm, hp = 0.4 µm, Wh = 100 nm,
Ls = 400 nm, εb = 3.9 and ε1 = 16; (b) Top view of exact distribution of
relative permittivity in (a); (c) The simulated received capacitance signal; (d)
Reconstruction of relative permittivity from the signal in (c).
70
VARIATION IN NFMM
4.4 Numerical validation
This section presents some numerical results to evaluate the performance

of the proposed nonlinear reconstruction method in this chapter. In all
the numerical results, as is illustrated in Fig. 3.1, a cone-sphere tip with
H = 0.5 µm, h = 0.485 µm, and θ = 30◦ is used. The measured signals
are computed by commercial software COMSOL, which include capacitance
and capacitance derivative signals. Capacitance signal is same as the
contrast capacitance in the forward model, and capacitance derivative signal
is computed as the derivative of capacitance signal with respect to tip-
sample distance. Both of them are widely used measured signals in NFMM
measurements.
Figure 4.1(a) presents a three dimensional “H” shape perturbation
presented sample. The total sample size is Ws × Ws × hs with Ws = 6 µm and
hs = 1 µm. The “H” shape perturbation is distributed in a top layer layer of
the sample with the thickness hp = 0.4 µm, width Wh = 100 nm , and length
Ls = 400 nm. As illustrated in Fig. 4.1(a), except the “H” perturbation
shape, all the other regions of the sample have a relative permittivity of
εb = 3.9. The top view of exact distribution of permittivity is depicted in Fig.
4.1(b). Contrast capacitance computed by COMSOL software is shown in
Fig. 4.1(c), where the “H” feature is hardly recognized although the position
and size of the “H” shape are roughly displayed. As is mentioned above,
the measured capacitance signal is not the exact sample properties beneath
the tip, but an accumulative response over a spread region centered at the
tip. Thus, by restoring the permittivity of the sample from the measured
capacitance, imaging resolution can be improved. Figure 4.1(d) presents the
reconstructed relative permittivity from the received capacitance signal in
71
VARIATION IN NFMM
Fig. 4.2 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “51” shape perturbation

presented with Ws = 6 µm, hs = 1 µm, hp = 0.4 µm, Ws1 = 100 nm, Ws2 =
250 nm, Ls1 = 600 nm, Ls2 = 150 nm, εb = 3.9, and ε1 = 16; (b) Top view of
exact distribution of relative permittivity in (a); (c) The simulated received
capacitance derivative signal; (d) Reconstruction of relative permittivity from
the signal in (c).
Fig. 4.1(c). It suggests that, by reconstructing the relative permittivity for

all pixels, the “H” pattern is retrieved in Fig. 4.1(d), and imaging resolution
is highly improved.
In the second example, a more challenging three dimensional sample is
considered. The total size of the sample is the same as that of the first
example, whereas the shape of perturbation is more complex. As illustrated
in Fig. 4.2(a), a “51” shape perturbation is distributed in a top layer layer
of the sample with the thickness hp = 0.4 µm, width Ws1 = 100 nm,
Ws2 = 250 nm, and length Ls1 = 600 nm, Ls2 = 150 nm. Figure 4.2(b)
72
VARIATION IN NFMM
presents the top view of exact distribution of relative permittivity for “51”
shape perturbation sample. The simulated received capacitance derivative
signal is shown in Fig. 4.2(c), and it is found that the perturbation feature
can hardly be identified from the received capacitance derivative signal. As
presented in Fig. 4.2(d), the relative permittivity distribution is reconstructed
from the received capacitance derivative signal. It suggests that the proposed
nonlinear reconstruction method is able to reconstruct the sample properties
from received signal and improve imaging resolution at the same time.
Fig. 4.3 Top view of exact distribution of (a) relative permittivity and
(b) conductivity for a conductive sample with an “51” shape perturbation
presented; The simulated received (c) capacitance derivative and (d)
conductance derivative signals; Reconstructed (e) relative permittivity and
(f) conductivity from the received signals.
73
VARIATION IN NFMM
Fig. 4.4 (a) The simulated received capacitance derivative signal, where 5%
Gaussian noise is added; (b) Reconstruction of relative permittivity from the
signal in (a).
In the third example, a three dimensional sample with conductive

perturbation presented is considered. The geometry size and position of
the sample are the same as that of the second sample in Fig. 4.2(a),
whereas the perturbation of “51” shape is replaced by conductive material
with relative permittivity εr = 16 and conductivity σ = 0.2 S/m. The top
view of exact distribution of relative permittivity and conductivity for the
sample are depicted in Fig. 4.3(a) and (b), respectively. The capacitance
and conductance derivative signals are recorded by COMSOL software, and
depicted in Fig. 4.3(c) and (d), respectively. Similarly, it is found that
the perturbation feature can hardly be distinguished from the received
capacitance and conductance derivative signals. In the inverse problem, both
of relative permittivity and conductivity are reconstructed from the received
signals. As shown in Fig. 4.3(e) and (f), the imaging resolution is highly
improved and sample properties are restored.
The fourth example considers a noisy case, where the received signal in
the second example is recorded as a matrix R. Additive white Gaussian noise
(AWGN) is added to the received signal, and is quantified by (||r||/||R||) ×
100%, where ||·|| denotes Frobenius norm. Figure 4.4(a) presents the received
74
VARIATION IN NFMM
capacitance signal with 5% Gaussian noise. The reconstructed permittivity

profile from the received noisy signal is shown in Fig. 4.4(b), and it suggests
that, with the presence of white Gaussian noise, the proposed method is able
to reconstruct the properties of materials and improve the imaging resolution
at the same time.
4.5 Summary
This chapter presents a nonlinear image reconstruction method with to-

tal variation constraint in near-field microwave microscopy (NFMM). The
method is fast because it reduces the computational domain for tip-sample
interaction problem to a block perturbation region by applying Green’s
Theorem in the forward model. In the inverse procedures, conjugate gradient
(CG) method is used to minimize the objective function.
Numerical examples show that the proposed method can not only quanti-
tatively reconstruct the permittivity distribution in three dimensional samples
for NFMM, but also improve the imaging resolution. Most importantly, the
methods proposed can be accomplished in a post-processing sense without
requiring expensive and complex instruments in experiment or destructing
the samples under test, and it can also be easily applied to other scanning
imaging systems with very few changes.
In the next step, the experimental part of the inversion method will be
focused to verify that the proposed method is able to improve resolution in
experiment. It mainly includes the compensation of drift errors and noise,
the calibration of various samples and the design of samples which can be
hardly distinguished in experiment.
75
Chapter 5
Two FFT Subspace-Based

Optimization Methods for
Electrical Impedance
Tomography
5.1 Introduction
In previous chapters, the modeling and inversion of NFMM have been

discussed, which are in the framework of Laplace’s equation that is described
by Eq. (3.1). In this chapter, modeling and inversion of electrical impedance
tomography (EIT), which are also in the framework of Laplace’s equation,
are studied. As mentioned in the first Chapter, electrical impedance
tomography has attracted intense interests recently in both mathematical
and engineering communities [120–122]. It is well-known that EIT is a
very challenging problem due to its nonlinear and highly ill-posed properties
[124, 125]. Various methods have been proposed to solve EIT problems
76
5 TWO FFT SUBSPACE-BASED OPTIMIZATION METHODS
FOR ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY
such as factorization method [131, 132], unconstrained least squares methods

[133], variationally constrained numerical method [134], and subspace-based
optimization method (SOM) [135].
The factorization method is able to locate the boundaries of inclusions fast,
but it cannot be applied to some challenging inclusions, such as an annulus
or two inclusions with one more conductive and the other one less conductive
than the background [165–167]. In addition, the factorization method is not
robust in presence of noise [168–170]. Traditionally, the unconstrained least
squares approach has been the method of choice [133], due to its simplicity
and relatively low computational cost. However, the unconstrained least
squares approach does not make the best use of the measured data, and
the image resolution is very limited [134]. Later, variational constraints
method is proposed to achieve a better image resolution by efficiently using
the data fit [134]. However, neither unconstrained least squares approach nor
variational constraints method is robust to noise and reconstructed results
are not satisfying when 3% noise is added in [134].
Recently, subspace-based optimization method (SOM) is proposed to solve
electrical impedance tomography (EIT) problems [135]. In SOM, through a
full singular value decomposition (SVD) of matrix mapping from induced
current to voltage on the boundary, the induced current is decomposed
into deterministic part and ambiguous part. The deterministic part can be
computed from SVD, whereas the ambiguous part is obtained by optimizing
the subspace spanned by singular vectors corresponding to small singular
values. Compared with the contrast source inversion (CSI) method [171–
173], SOM has the properties of faster convergence rate and good robustness
against noise. However, a drawback of SOM is the overhead computation
associated with the full SVD of matrix mapping from induced current to
77
voltage on the boundary [174]. In order to reduce the computational cost,

an improved method is proposed in [175] to avoid the full SVD in SOM by
using a thin SVD method. In addition, the computational speed is further
increased with FFT applied in twofold subspace-based optimization method
(TSOM) [176].
This chapter proposes two FFT subspace-based optimization methods
for electrical impedance tomography in a domain with arbitrary boundary
shape [123]. The first one is a new fast Fourier transform subspace-
based optimization method (NFFT-SOM). Compared with the original SOM
method in [135], the original contributions and advantages of NFFT-SOM
are as follows:
(1) Instead of solving problems with circular boundary, where analytical

Green’s function is available, the proposed method extends to be
applicable to a domain with an arbitrary boundary shape.
(2) Instead of using a noise subspace corresponding to smaller singular

values in SOM, complete Fourier bases are used in NFFT-SOM. It
is found that, compared with SOM, NFFT-SOM can obtain better
reconstructed results in dealing with high noise EIT problem. Also,
the computational complexity of the proposed method is greatly reduced
compared with [135] for two reasons. Firstly, it avoids the full singular-
value decomposition of the matrix mapping from the induced current to
received voltage. Secondly, FFT can be directly used in algorithm to
accelerate the computational speed.
(3) It is also found that NFFT-SOM is robust to the change of number of

significant singular values (the integer L) for both high and low noise
cases, which is an important and encouraging conclusion.
78
(4) Instead of using coupled dipole method to solve the EIT problem, a more
general method, i.e., method of moment (MOM) is adopted in NFFT-
SOM.
Additionally, compared with the thin SVD method in [175], where the
computational costs is reduced in [175] by constructing the ambiguous current
subspace from identity matrix and deterministic current subspace, the NFFT-
SOM constructs the ambiguous current subspace that is directly spanned by
complete Fourier bases instead of singular value vectors.
Compared with the twofold subspace-based optimization method in [176],
where 2D Fourier bases are used to construct the current subspace for two
dimensional TM cases, 1D Fourier bases are used in NFFT-SOM for EIT
problems in proposed method. Since the subspace spanned by low frequency
Fourier bases roughly corresponds to the subspace spanned by singular vectors
with large singular values [176, 177], 1D Fourier bases adopted in this chapter
directly exhibit such a correspondence, whereas the 2D Fourier bases adopted
in [176] have to be sorted in order to exhibit such a correspondence. In
addition, when the domain of interest is not a rectangle, the application of
2D Fourier bases requires an extra work of extending the domain of interest to
a rectangle that is able to fully cover it. For NFFT-SOM, there is no need to
extend the domain of interest to a rectangle one. These are two advantages of
the proposed method over [176] as far as implementing the SOM is concerned.
As mentioned above, it is well known that the behavior of Fourier
functions is similar to that of singular function in singular value decomposition
(SVD) in the sense that low-frequency Fourier functions correspond to
those singular functions with large singular values [176, 177]. Thus, it is
very natural to think that we can replace the deterministic current and
noise subspace in SOM with low frequency current and space spanned by
79
discrete Fourier bases, respectively. For convenience, we denote this method

as low frequency subspace optimized method (LF-SOM). In this chapter,
the performance of LF-SOM has been discussed through various numerical
simulations and comparisons with traditional SOM and NFFT-SOM in EIT
problems. Additionally, it is noted that though we test our proposed methods
in two-dimensional examples in this chapter, both of the proposed methods
are applicable to three-dimensional cases.
5.2 Forward model
5.2.1 Model description
In this chapter, a two-dimensional domain I consisting of a square and four

half circles is considered. As it is depicted in Fig. 5.1, the square has a
Fig. 5.1 A typical schematic of EIT problem with a two dimensional domain
consisting of a square with width W1 and four half circles with a radius of
W1 /2, in which W1 = 1, and σ0 = 1. Voltages are measured at a number of
Nr nodes on the boundary ∂I which are labeled as dots.
80
width of W1 which is surrounded by four half circles with a radius of W1 /2.

Actually, domain I can be of arbitrary shape, and the one in Fig. 5.1 is
chosen as an example to present the proposed method. The background is
homogenous material with the conductivity of σ0 and some inclusions with
conductivity of σ(r) are embedded in a region interior to domain I. Electrical
current is injected from the boundary ∂I into domain I, and voltages are
measured at a number of Nr nodes on the boundary ∂I which are labeled as
dots in Fig. 5.1. There are a total number of Ni excitations of current from
boundary, and voltages at all nodes are measured for each excitation. Due
to the presence of inclusions, the voltages measured at the boundary differ
from those in homogenous case, and the differential voltage between these
two cases at each node is recorded as Vpq , p=1, 2, . . . , Ni , q=1, 2, . . . , Nr .
5.2.2 Theoretical principle
The Neumann boundary value problem in EIT can be described as the partial
differential equation ∇·(σ∇µ) = 0 in I, with σ ∂µ
∂ν
= J on ∂I given a boundary
excitation current J ∈ H −1/2 (∂I) with ∂I Jds = 0, where ν is the outer
H
normal direction on the boundary ∂I. This Neumann boundary value problem
H
has a unique weak solution given that µ ∈ H 1 (I) with ∂I µds = 0. The
partial differential equation can further be written as:
∂µ
∇ · (σ0 ∇µ) = −ρin in I, σ0 = J on ∂I (5.1)
∂ν
with the induced source ρin = ∇ · [(σ − σ0 )∇µ]. Since the inclusions are
within a region interior to I, the σ at the boundary ∂I is just the known σ0 .
To solve Eq. (5.1) in method of moment [178], the Green’s function G(r, r0 )
in homogeneous background medium is defined and it satisfies the following
81
G(r, r0 )ds = 0,
H
differential equation with the normalization ∂I
∂G 1
∇ · (σ0 ∇G(r, r0 )) = −δ(r − r0 ) with σ0 =− on ∂I (5.2)
∂ν |∂I|
where δ(r − r0 ) is the Dirac delta function, and r and r0 are the field point
and source point in domain I, respectively.
The solution of every linear differential equation like Eq. (5.1) consists
of two part: the particular solution µs that depends on the induced source
s
ρin together with the boundary condition σ0 ∂µ
∂ν 0
= 0 on ∂I, and the general
solution that depends on the exciting current J on the boundary that is
injected into a homogeneous medium in absence of induced source ρin . The
superscript s in µs means “scattered” since the physical meaning of µs is
actually scattered potential by the induced source.
For the particular solution, it can be solved according to Green’s theorem
[140] as:
Z
µ = s
G(r, r0 )ρin (r0 )dr0 + I∂I (5.3)
I
with
∂µs G(r, r0 ) 0
I
I∂I = [G(r, r0 )σ0 + µ s
σ0 ]ds (5.4)
∂I ∂ν 0 ∂ν 0
s
On boundary ∂I, according to σ0 ∂µ ∂ν 0
= 0 and the predefined normalization
G(r, r0 )ρin (r0 )dr0 is
H s s
R
∂I
µ ds = 0, it is easy to get I∂I = 0. Therefore, µ = I
the particular solution for differential equation in Eq. (5.1).

0
For the general solution, it satisfies that ∇ · (σ0 ∇µ0 ) = 0 with σ0 ∂µ
∂ν 0
=
J on ∂I. Thus, the compete solution for Eq. (5.1) is
Z
µ = µ + µ = µ + G(r, r0 )∇0 · [(σ(r0 ) − σ0 )∇0 µ(r0 )]dr0
0 s 0
(5.5)
I
Utilizing the identity ∇0 · (G(r, r0 )A) = A · ∇0 G(r, r0 ) + G(r, r0 )∇0 · A with

A = (σ(r0 ) − σ0 )∇0 µ(r0 ) and considering that I ∇0 · (G(r, r0 )A)dr0 = 0 due
R
82
to divergence theorem, Eq. (5.5) becomes

Z
µ = µ + −∇0 G(r, r0 ) · (σ(r0 ) − σ0 )∇0 µ(r0 )dr0
0
(5.6)
I
Taking gradient on both side of Eq. (5.6), the following self-consistent

equation can be obtained.
Z
E = E + −∇[∇0 G(r, r0 ) · (σ(r0 ) − σ0 )Et (r0 )]dr0
t 0
(5.7)
I
for electric field Et = −∇µ and E0 = −∇µ0 .
5.2.3 Discretization method
In method of moment (MOM) [178], domain I is discretized into a total

number of M small squares that are centered at r1 , r1 , . . . , rM , and the mth
subunit has an effective radius of am . Pulse basis function and delta test
function are used in MOM and the total electric field exerting on subunits
t
E p (rm ) can be expressed as,
M
t 0 X t
E p (rm ) = E p (rm ) + GD (rm , rn ) · ξ n · E p (rn ) (5.8)
n=1
0
where p represents the pth injection of current, and E p (rm ) is the electric
field in homogeneous background. ξ n relates the current induced in the nth
t t
subunit J(rn ) to the total electric field E p (rn ), i.e., J(rn ) = ξ n · E p (rn ).
According to Eq. (5.6), ξ n can be calculated as ξ n = πa2m (σ(rn ) − σ0 )I 2 , and
I 2 is a two-dimensional identity matrix. The Green’s function GD (rm , rn ) is
characterized as GD (r, r0 ) · d = −∇[∇0 G(r, r0 ) · d] for a arbitrary dipole d.
Since the boundary of domain I is irregular, G(r, r0 ) in Eq. (5.7) has no
analytical solution. Instead, it can be computed using numerical software
as potential at r due to a unit dipole placed at r0 . In order to deal
with singularities in the integral, G(r, r0 ) is decomposed into two parts:
unbounded-domain Green’s function G0 (r, r0 ) that contains singularity, and
83
the general Green’s function GI (r, r0 ) that contains no singularity and is

directly calculated as G(r, r0 ) − G0 (r, r0 ). Then, in Eq. (5.7), the singularities
in the integral can be easily calculated with the analytical solution, and the
other part of integral is calculated by Gaussian quadrature method [179]. The
details to deal with singularities are included in next section.
t
The relationship between J(rn ) and E p (rn ), together with Eq. (5.8) leads
to
0
J p = ξ · (E p + GD · J p ) (5.9)
where J p is a 2M -dimensional vector with
J p = [Jpx (r1 ), Jpx (r2 ), ..., Jpx (rM ), Jpy (r1 ), Jpy (r2 ), ..., Jpy (rM )]T (5.10)
in which Jpx (rM ) and Jpy (rM ) are x and y component of induced current at rM
for the pth injection of current on boundary ∂I, respectively. The superscript
T denotes the transpose operator of a matrix. GD is a 2M × 2M matrix with
GD = [Gxx , Gxy ; Gyx , Gyy ] (5.11)
in which Gxx is a M × M matrix. Gxx (m, n) and Gxy (m, n) is computed as

x component of electric field at rm due to a unit x-oriented and y-oriented
dipole placed at rn , respectively. Gyx and Gyy can also be evaluated in a
similar way. ξ consists of ξm in a diagonal way, and ξm can be calculated as
ξm = πa2m (σ(rn ) − σ0 ). Thus, the induced current J p can be obtained from
Eq. (5.9). According to Eq. (5.6), the differential voltage on the boundary
V (r∂I ) can be calculated as:
Z
V (r∂I ) = µ − µ = −∇0 G(r∂I , r0 ) · (σ(r0 ) − σ0 )∇0 µ(r0 )dr0
0
(5.12)
I
where r∂I is the position at the boundary ∂I. Following the same discretized
method in Eq. (5.8), the differential voltage V p at the boundary for pth
84
injection is then calculated as
V p = G∂ · J p (5.13)
where G∂ (r∂I , r0 ) is characterized as G∂ (r∂I , r0 ) = ∇0 G(r∂I , r0 ) and G∂ is a

x y x y
Nr × 2M matrix [G∂ , G∂ ]. G∂ (q, n) and G∂ (q, n) are calculated as potential
on the boundary node rq due to a unit x-oriented and y-oriented dipole at
rn , respectively. This forward model has been verified by comparing with
commercial software (COMSOL), and numerical results calculated by the
proposed forward model agree well with the simulation results produced by
COMSOL for various examples.
5.2.4 Singularities in Green’s function
As is mentioned in previous section, to deal with the singularities in the

integral of Eq. (5.7), G(r, r0 ) is decomposed into two parts: unbounded-
domain Green’s function G0 (r, r0 )
−1
G0 (r, r0 ) = log(|r − r0 |) (5.14)
2πσ0
Fig. 5.2 Schematic of Green’s function integral on a small cell with

singularities.
85
which contains singularity and the general Green’s function GI (r, r0 ) that
contains no singularity and is directly calculated as G(r, r0 ) − G0 (r, r0 ). The
second part is directly calculated by Gaussian quadrature method [179], and
for the first part, it is calculated as follows. As depicted in Fig. 5.2, for
arbitrary small discretization cell D with the size of 2b × 2b, one needs to
calculate the following integration in Eq. (5.7) (Suppose that the filed point
is at the origin):
ZZ
I1 = −∇[∇0 G(r, r0 ) · d0 ] dx0 dy 0 (5.15)
D
in which d0 is a unit dipole. Ixx and Ixy are defined as the x component
of I1 due to a unit x and y oriented dipole, respectively. Similarly, Iyx and
Iyy are defined as y component of I1 due to a unit x and y oriented dipole,
respectively. Thus,
Z b Z b
∂
Ixx = − [∇0 G(r, r0 ) · (b
x)] dx0 dy 0 = −1/2 (5.16)
−b ∂x −b
Iyy , Ixy and Iyx are calculated as -1/2, 0, 0 in a similar way, respectively.
5.3 Inverse algorithm
5.3.1 Subspace-based optimization method (SOM)
It is well-known that EIT is a highly ill-posed problem, which means that

the induced current can’t be uniquely determined from Eq. (5.14). In the
traditional SOM [174, 180], a full singular value decomposition is firstly
∗
P
conducted on G∂ , in which G∂ = m um σm ν m with G∂ · ν m = σm um ,
∗
σ1 ≥ σ2 ... ≥ σ2M > 0. Alternatively, G∂ = U · Σ · V , in which U is a
Nr × Nr matrix composed of left singular vectors, V is a 2M × 2M matrix
composed of right singular vectors, and Σ is a diagonal matrix composed of
86
singular values. The superscript ∗ denotes the transpose conjugate operator.

Then, induced current J is mathematically classified into deterministic
s n s n
current J and ambiguous current J , J = J + J , where the former is
s
uniquely determined by the signal subspace V composed of first L singular
n
vectors and the latter is reconstructed in the noise subspace V spanned by
the remaining 2M − L singular value vectors [174, 180].
5.3.2 New fast Fourier transform subspace-based opti-
mization method (NFFT-SOM)
As mentioned in [175, 176], the drawback of the traditional SOM is its

overhead computational cost associated with a full SVD of the matrix
mapping from the induced current to received signal, especially when the
domain of interest is large. Thus, an alternative method to construct
ambiguous part of induced current is proposed to avoid a full SVD of the
matrix mapping from induced current to scattered fields [175].
This chapter proposes a new fast Fourier transform subspace-based
optimization method (NFFT-SOM) which avoids a full SVD of G∂ , and in
addition, fast Fourier transform can be used to accelerate the computational
speed at the same time. In NFFT-SOM, the deterministic current is still
computed by the first L singular vectors, whereas the ambiguous current is
spanned by a complete Fourier bases F , in which the 2M × 2M dimensional
matrix F consists of units F (m, n) = exp(−j2π(m − 1)(n − 1)/(2M )). Since
only the first L singular vectors is needed, a thin-type SVD of G∂ is sufficient
to supply these bases, and the complexity of a thin SVD is smaller than that
of a full SVD [175, 181]. Thus, the induced current can be written in the
87
form
s
J p = J p + F · αnp (5.17)
where αp n is a 2M -dimensional vector to be optimized. F · αp n is

calculated in fast Fourier transform way with the computational complexity of
O(2M log2 2M ), whereas the complexity of direct multiplication in traditional
SOM is O(2M (2M − L)). Since 2M − L is usually much larger than log2 2M ,
the computational cost in NFFT-SOM is much smaller. Using Eq. (5.17),
the residue of Eq. (5.14) is
s
∆fp = ||G∂ · J p + G∂ · F · αnp − V p ||2 (5.18)
and residue of Eq. (5.9) becomes
∆ap = ||A · αnp − B p ||2 (5.19)

0 s s
in which A = F − ξ · (GD · F ), and B p = ξ · (E + GD · J p ) − J p . The objective
function is defined as:
Ni
X s
f (αn1 , αn2 , ..., αnNi , ξ) = (∆fp /|V p |2 + ∆sp /|J p |2 ) (5.20)
p=1
5.3.3 Low frequency subspace optimization method
(LF-SOM)
Considering the fact that low-frequency Fourier functions in FFT correspond

to those singular functions with large singular values in SVD [176, 177], one
s
can further replace the deterministic current J in NFFT-SOM with low
frequency components of current in this section, and denote the method as
low frequency subspace optimization method (LF-SOM). In LF-SOM, the
deterministic current JepL is spanned by the first L low frequency Fourier bases,
L
0 0 0
i.e., JepL = αi Fi = F L αpL , and the coefficient αpL can be calculated in a least
P
i=1
88
square sense from Eq. (5.14) by

0 −1
αpL = ((G∂ F L )∗ · (G∂ F L )) · ((G∂ F L )∗ · V p ) (5.21)
The computational complexity of Eq. (5.21) is O(2M Nr L), which is smaller

than the computational complexity (O(2M Nr 2 )) of thin SVD [175, 181] in
NFFT-SOM since L is usually smaller than Nr . Thus, the speed of LF-SOM
is faster compared with NFFT-SOM.
Therefore, induced current J p can be spanned by Fourier bases as
L L 2M
X 0
X 0
X n
Jp = αi Fi + (αi − αi )Fi + αi Fi = JepL + F · β p (5.22)
i=1 i=1 i=L+1
n
Where β p is a 2M -dimensional vector to be reconstructed. For LF-SOM, the
objective function and following steps are the same as that of NFFT-SOM
except that induced current is expressed in a different way as it is in Eq.
(5.22).
5.3.4 Implementation procedures
The optimization method used in the contrast source inversion method is

adopted, i.e., alternatively updating the coefficients αp n and the polarization
tensor ξ. The implementation procedures of NFFT-SOM and LF-SOM are
as follows [174, 176, 182]:
• Step 1) Calculate G∂ , GD . For NFFT-SOM, compute the thin SVD of

s 0
G∂ , and obtain J p in Eq. (5.17). For LF-SOM, compute αpL in Eq.
(5.21), and obtain JepL .
• Step 2) Initial step, n = 0; Give an initial guess of ξ according to back

propagation [171], and initialize αnp,0 = 0, ρp,0 = 0.
• Step 3) n=n+1.
89
– Step 3.1) Update αnp,n : calculate gradient g p,n = ∇αnp f evaluate

at αnp,n−1 and ξ n−1 . Then determine the Polak-Ribière-Polyak
(PRP) directions [164]: ρp,n = −g p,n + (Re[(g p,n − g p,n−1 )∗ ·
g p,n ]/||g n−1 ||2 )ρp,n−1 . Update αnp,n as: αnp,n = αnp,n−1 + dp,n ρp,n .
dp,n is the search length, and the objective function is quadratic
in terms of parameter dp,n . dp,n can be easily obtained as done in
[171, 182].
– Step 3.2) Update ξ n : For the mth subunit, m = 1, 2, . . . , M ,

calculate the induced current (J p,n )m and the total electric filed
t
(E p,n )m . Then objective function becomes quadratic in terms of
(ξ n )m , and the solution is given by [174]:
Ni t Ni t t
X (E p,n )∗m (J p,n )m X (E p,n )∗m (E p,n )m
(ξ)m = [ s · s ]/[ s · s ] (5.23)
p=1
||J p || ||J p || p=1
||J p || ||J p ||
• Step 4) If the termination condition is satisfied, stop iteration. Other-

wise, go to step 3).
(a) (b)
Fig. 5.3 (a)The exact profile of two half circles: radii of both half circles are
0.3, and centers are located at (-0.35, -0.2) and (0.35, 0.1), respectively. (b)
The singular values of the operator G∂ , where the base 10 logarithm of the
singular value is plotted.
90
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 5.4 Reconstructed conductivity profiles at the 60th iterations with

L = 4 for (a) traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM, where
20% Gaussian noise is added. (d) Comparison of exact error f in the first
300 iterations for the three inversion methods with L = 4, where the base 10
logarithm of the exact error value is plotted.
5.4 Numerical simulation and discussions
In this section, numerical examples for both high and low noise cases are
considered to verify the proposed methods, and compare the performance
of tradition SOM, NFFT-SOM and LF-SOM. As shown in Fig. 5.3(a), the
“two half circles” profile is considered in numerical simulations. Although all
numerical results reported in this section are for the “two half circles” profile,
the proposed algorithms have been tested on various other profiles, and all
drawn conclusions are the same as the one reported in this section.
91
In these examples, a total number of Ni = 10 current excitations is placed

at the boundary ∂I, where J2t−1 (φ) = cos(tφ), and J2t (φ) = sin(tφ), t=1,
2, . . . , 5, and 0 ≤ φ ≤ 2π. A total number of Nr = 40 measurements
is conducted on the boundary of ∂I. A priori information is known that
√
inclusions are within a circle of radius 2/2W1 centered at the origin with
W1 = 1, which is referred to as the domain of interest. In discretization, the
domain of interest is divided into 1421 subunits with dimensions 0.033×0.033.
The measured voltage is computed by commercial software COMSOL to avoid
inverse crime, and recorded as a matrix R with the size of Nr · Ni . In this
examples, additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is added to the measured
voltages, and is quantified by (||r||/||R||)×100%, where ||·|| denotes Frobenius
norm.
The value of L is important in implementing SOM and the proposed
algorithms. In previous literatures [174, 176, 180], L is usually determined
from singular values of the operator G∂ , and a good candidate of L takes the
value where singular values noticeably change the slope in the spectrum [174].
In EIT, as is depicted in Fig. 5.3(b), it is difficult to find a good candidate
of L directly from the spectrum of G∂ . Thus, it is preferred that there is a
consecutive range of integer L, instead of a single value, that can be chosen
for various cases.
With the presence of 20% white Gaussian noise, the reconstructed
conductivity profiles at 60th iteration for SOM, NFFT-SOM, and LF-SOM
are presented in Fig. 5.4(a), 5.4(b), and 5.4(c), respectively. It is found that
the reconstruction results are quite satisfying for all the three methods when
L = 4. If the same computer is used, for 60 iterations, it takes about 63
seconds to finish the optimization for SOM whereas it takes only about 15
and 14 seconds for NFFT-SOM and LFSOM, respectively. It suggests that
92
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 5.5 Reconstructed conductivity profiles at the 60th iterations with L =

12 for (a) traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM, where 20%
Gaussian noise is added. (d) Comparison of exact error f in the first 300
iterations for the three inversion methods with L = 12, where the base 10
logarithm of the exact error value is plotted.
compared with traditional SOM, the proposed methods has great advantage
in the speed. To further compare the three methods quantitatively, exact
error f is defined as |Aσ − Bσ |/|Bσ |, where Aσ and Bσ are reconstructed
conductivity and exact conductivity of the profile, respectively. Figure 5.4(d)
presents the comparison of exact error with the base of 10 logarithm in the
first 300 iterations for the three inversion methods. It is found that, compared
with SOM, both LF-SOM and NFFT-SOM can get a smaller exact error for
high noise cases, but with more iterations.
It is worthwhile to discuss the reasons of the results in Fig. 5.4(d). In
93
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 5.6 Comparison of exact error f in the first 300 iterations for (a)
traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM with 20% Gaussian noise,
where the base 10 logarithm of the exact error value is plotted.
SOM, the deterministic current is calculated from the spectrum analysis of

(5.14) without using any optimizations, and ambiguous current is determined
by optimizing a noise subspace which is perpendicular to the deterministic
current space. Since the voltages measured at the boundary V p contain white
Gaussian noise, the calculated deterministic current differs from the exact one.
When the noise level is high, the deterministic current becomes inaccurate and
needs to be optimized as well. In the proposed NFFT-SOM and LF-SOM,
the space to be optimized is no longer perpendicular to the deterministic
current space, and instead the space spanned by complete Fourier bases is
used. In the optimization, the deterministic current of NFFT-SOM and LF-
94
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 5.7 Reconstructed conductivity profiles at the 60th iterations with

L = 12 for (a) traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM, where
1% Gaussian noise is added.
SOM is further optimized based on an initial value calculated from Eq. (5.14).
Therefore, compared with SOM, both LF-SOM and NFFT-SOM can get a
smaller exact error for high noise cases, but with more iterations.
To study the effects of L on the three inversion methods, with L = 12, the
reconstructed conductivity profiles at 60th iteration for SOM, NFFT-SOM,
and LF-SOM are presented in Fig. 5.5(a), 5.5(b), and 5.5(c), respectively.
It is noted that the reconstructed profile for NFFT-SOM outperforms those
for the traditional SOM and LF-SOM. Figure 5.5(d) shows the exact error
with the base of 10 logarithm for the three inversion methods, and it suggests
that SOM and LF-SOM can hardly converges to a satisfying exact error with
95
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 5.8 Comparison of exact error f in the first 300 iterations for (a)
traditional SOM (b) NFFT-SOM and (c) LF-SOM with 1% Gaussian noise,
where the base 10 logarithm of the exact error value is plotted.
L = 12. The exact error of SOM, NFFT-SOM, and LF-SOM varying with
number of iterations for different values of L are further plotted in Fig. 5.6(a),
5.6(b), and 5.6(c), respectively. It suggests that NFFT-SOM is robust to L
variations, and a good reconstructed results can be obtained by NFFT-SOM
for 4 ≤ L ≤ 12. In comparison, the effects of L on LF-SOM and SOM are
dramatic, which makes it difficult to choose an appropriate L in practice.
The effects of L on the three methods are also considered under low noise
cases. With the presence of 1% white Gaussian noise, the reconstructed
conductivity profiles at 60th iteration for SOM, NFFT-SOM, and LF-SOM
with L = 12 are presented in Fig. 5.7(a), 5.7(b), and 5.7(c), respectively. It
96
suggests that, unlike the high noise cases, the reconstruction results are quite
satisfying for all the methods with L = 12. The exact error curves of SOM,
NFFT-SOM, and LF-SOM for different values of L are also plotted in Fig.
5.8(a), 5.8(b), and 5.8(c), respectively, where 1% noise is added. It is found
that, compared with the high noise cases, the effects of L on all the three
methods are much smaller, and a good reconstructed result can be obtained
with 4 ≤ L ≤ 12 for all the inversion methods.
5.5 Summary
This chapter proposes two fast Fourier transform subspace-based optimization

methods (NFF-SOM and LF-SOM) to solve the EIT problem with arbitrary
boundary. Through numerical simulations and analysis, it suggests that
NFF-SOM and LF-SOM have two advantages over traditional SOM. Firstly,
the speed of the proposed methods is much faster than that of traditional
SOM since the computational complexity is largely reduced by implementing
FFT in the optimization procedures. In NFFT-SOM, the computational
speed is also accelerated by avoiding the full singular-value decomposition
of the matrix mapping from the induced current to received voltage. In LF-
SOM, the computational cost is further reduced by replacing the singular
value decomposition with a lower computational cost least square method.
Secondly, compared with SOM, both LF-SOM and NFFT-SOM can get
a smaller exact error for high noise cases, which means that a better
reconstructed result can be obtained for the proposed methods.
Most importantly, besides the above mentioned two advantages, it is found
that NFFT-SOM has another advantage that it is robust to the L variations.
For NFFT-SOM, there is a consecutive range of integer L, instead of a single
97
value, that can be chosen in practice for both high and low noise cases. This
is an important and encouraging advantage, especially for EIT where it is
difficult to directly find a good candidate of L from the spectrum of G∂ .
Additionally, further numerical simulations also suggest that the drawback
of the proposed methods is that, compared with traditional SOM, both of the
proposed methods need more iterations in optimization since the noise spaces
of them are spanned by complete Fourier bases.
98
Chapter 6
Conclusions and Future Work
6.1 Conclusions
This thesis addresses the modeling and inversion in near-field microwave

microscopy (NFMM) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) problems.
Both the modeling and inversion are conducted in the framework of Laplace’s
equation since the computational domain is much smaller than the wavelength
in the NFMM and the problem is purely static in the EIT. For NFMM,
in order to quantitatively reconstruct material information from measured
signals, a boundary integral and finite element based method is proposed to
solve the tip-sample interaction problem, which is a very challenging task in
NFMM. The EIT problem is well known as a difficult problem in the filed
of inverse problems for its severely nonlinear and highly ill-posed properties,
and the thesis has proposed two methods which are highly robust to noise
and have low computational cost to solve the problem. In the following, all
the specific contributions are summarized as follows:
• The thesis has conducted a complete analysis on tip-sample interaction

problems in NFMM:
99
6 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
– A lumped element model between Z-match network and ground in

MIM is presented, and the limitations of the method are discussed.
As an improvement of the lumped element method, impedance
variation method is proposed to establish the relationship between
measured signals in MIM and impedance variations between tip
and sample. The theoretical principles behind the impedance
variation method are proved in detail.
– The Dirichlet Green’s function to calculate charges on tip in

equivalent-sphere model under Bishperical coordinate system is
derived. This solution is verified by numerical software, and the
limitations of equivalent-sphere model are also discussed.
– A quantitative analysis approach is presented to determine an

effective height of probe beyond which the probe geometry does not
contribute significantly to the measurements in NFMM. The study
has compared the performance of effective height among three
measurement parameter manipulations, and in addition has shown
that the effective height highly depends upon the manipulations.
The numerical analysis and associated experimental results show
that second derivative of capacitance with respect to tip-sample
distance is the most robust to probe height. Most importantly,
the conclusions about effective height under different measurement
parameter manipulations is significant in improving imaging reso-
lution in NSMM.
• The thesis has proposed a novel forward solver for NFMM which can
be applied to arbitrary tip shapes, thick and thin films, and complex
inhomogeneous perturbation. The proposed method reduces the three-
100
dimensional computational domain to the computational box beneath

the tip, which avoids using FEM to compute the whole computational
domain during the scanning process. To simulate three-dimensional tip-
sample interaction for scanning points, the proposed method is much
faster than brute force all-domain methods.
• The thesis has presented a nonlinear image reconstruction method with

total variation constraint in NFMM, and it is verified in numerical
examples that it can not only retrieve the permittivity and conductivity
distributions in three dimensional samples, but also improve the imaging
resolution in NFMM.
• The thesis has proposed two fast Fourier transform subspace-based

optimization methods (NFF-SOM and LF-SOM) to solve the EIT
problem with arbitrary boundary. It suggests that the speed of the
proposed methods is much faster than that of traditional SOM since
the computational complexity is largely reduced by implementing FFT
in the optimization procedures. Moreover, compared with traditional
SOM, both LF-SOM and NFFT-SOM can get a smaller exact error
for high noise cases, which means that a better reconstructed results
can be obtained for the proposed methods. Most importantly, besides
the above mentioned two advantages, it is found that NFFT-SOM has
another advantage that it is robust to the L variations. Additionally,
the disadvantages of the proposed methods are also discussed in the
thesis. It suggests that the drawback of the proposed methods is
that, compared with traditional SOM, both of the proposed methods
need more iterations in optimization since the noise spaces of them are
spanned by complete Fourier bases.
101
6.2 Future work
Several challenging issues have been dealt with in this study, and future work
will address the following aspects:
• The thesis has proposed a nonlinear reconstruction method in chapter

4 based on the proposed forward solver to retrieve the properties of
material in NFMM. It suggests that the reconstruction method is able
to not only quantitatively obtain sample information from measured
signals, but also to improve imaging resolution. Although the proposed
method has been verified numerically in this study, it definitely deserves
the best endeavor to accomplish it in experiment. Thus, in the next
step of the work, practical experiment of inversion method will be
addressed, which includes calibrating the MIM systems, fabricating
various samples, and dealing with drift errors and noise.
• One of important advantages of the proposed reconstruction method

is that it can be easily applied to other microscopies with very few
changes about the current setups. Thus, the reconstruction method in
this study will also be applied to other scanning imaging techniques. For
examples, in another project in which the author has helped to develop
the numerical model of optical system, the image inversion approach
has been used to improve the resolution of a confocal laser scanning
microscope experimentally.
• Based on the working principle of NFMM, it is meaningful to apply

the methods and knowledge in this study to investigate some emerging
materials, such as two-dimensional (2D) materials [20, 22, 183]. For
examples, the MIM introduced in this thesis is very appropriate to
102
investigate formation of ripples, electron-hole and chemical doping in

graphene and 2D materials beyond graphene. Therefore, the possible
specific future work may include studying these phenomena using the
near-field microwave microscopy techniques.
• The thesis has applied LF-SOM and NFFT-SOM to solve nonlinear,

highly ill-posed EIT problems under static situation. In next step, it is
meaningful to extend the methods to time-harmonic electromagnetic
wave issues. For EIT problems, the developed algorithms are very
powerful tools to solve the practical problems in medical imaging,
and the application of these algorithms to commercially available EIT
instrument is also an important aspect of the future work.
103
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Appendix A: Derivation of
Coefficients in Dirichlet Green’s
Function for Equivalent-Sphere
Model
In this appendix, we have derived Eq. (2.19) from Eq. (2.18) and Eq. (2.16).
According to the boundary condition ϕ = ϕg + ϕp = 0|µ=0 , we have:
∞ n
1 p XX
− (cosh µc − cos ηc )·Fp (µ = 0) = cos[m(φ − φc )]·Pnm (cos η)(A+B)
4πε0 a n=0 m=0
(A.1)
in which
∞ X
n
X (n − m)!
Fp (µ = 0) = εm cos[m(φ−φc )]·Pnm (cos ηc )Pnm (cos η)e−(n+0.5)µc
n=0 m=0
(n + m)!
(A.2)
Further considering the boundary condition ϕ = ϕg + ϕp = 0|µ=µ0 , we have:
∞ n
1 p XX
− (cosh µc − cos ηc )·Fp (µ = µ0 ) = cos[m(φ − φc )]·Pnm (cos η)Ae
4πε0 a n=0 m=0
(A.3)
with Ae = Ae(n+0.5)µ0 + Be−(n+0.5)µ0 , and
∞ X
n
X (n − m)!
Fp (µ = µ0 ) = εm cos[m(φ−φc )]·Pnm (cos ηc )Pnm (cos η)e−(n+0.5)(µ0 −µc )
n=0 m=0
(n + m)!
(A.4)
129
APPENDIX A
Combining A.1 and A.2, we can solve A and B as:

M [e−(0.5+n)(µ0 +µc ) − e−(0.5+n)(µ0 −µc ) ]
A= (A.5)
e−(0.5+n)µ0 − e(0.5+n)µ0
and
M [e−(0.5+n)(µ0 −µc ) − e−(0.5+n)(µc −µ0 ) ]
B= (A.6)
e−(0.5+n)µ0 − e(0.5+n)µ0
with
1p (n − m)! m 1
M =− (cosh µc − cos ηc ) · εm Pn (cos ηc ) · (A.7)
a (n + m)! 4πε0
130

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MODELING AND INVERSION IN

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

I hereby declare that the thesis is my original work

and it has been written by me in its entirety.

I have duly acknowledged all the sources of

information which have been used in the thesis.

This thesis has also not been submitted for any

degree in any university previously.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to

Secondly, I would like to thank all the staffs in Microwave and RF

I would also like to thank my seniors, Krishna Agarwal and Chen

I would specially like to thank Prof. Zhi-Xun Shen at Stan-

Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my dear parents, who

List of Figures xiii

List of Symbols xviii

2 Tip-Sample Interaction in NFMM 15

3 A Novel Forward Solver in NFMM 45

3.3.2 Effective interaction area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4 Nonlinear Image Reconstruction with Total Variation in

5 Two FFT Subspace-Based Optimization Methods for Electri-

6 Conclusions and Future Work 99

Appendix A: Derivation of Coefficients in Dirichlet Green’s

This thesis addresses the modeling and inversion in near-field

2.1 Effective height he of C 00 (h) for typical tips and samples in

2.1 Block diagram of MIM electronics in the reflection mode. [2, 3] 16

2.9 (a) A simple schematic of microwave impedance microscopy

3.1 A typical near-field microwave microscopy scheme including

4.1 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “H” shape perturba-

4.2 (a) A three-dimensional sample with an “51” shape perturba-

5.1 A typical schematic of EIT problem with a two dimensional

[1] Z. Wei, Y. T. Cui, E. Y. Ma, S. Johnston, Y. Yang, R.

This thesis addresses modeling and inversion in near-field microwave mi-

1.1 Inverse problem

1.2 Near-field microwave microscopy

Near-field microwave microscopy (NFMM) is concerned with measuring the

1.2.1 Why near-field microwave microscopy?

resolution ∆r is limited by the equation [27]:

k = kr r̂ + kz ẑ = βr̂ + jαẑ (1.2)

in which r̂ and ẑ are unit direction in cylindrical coordinate and j is the

[2], in propagating electromagnetic wave, it is easy to find k > kr and

1.2.2 State of the art in NFMM

which can be applied to image embedded nanostructures [72]. Most of the

1.2.3 Challenges in NFMM

Fig. 1.2 Modeling of a cross section of a human thorax showing current

extracting parameters from a homogeneous media with a constant permittiv-

1.3 Electrical impedance tomography prob-

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique

geophysics, environmental sciences, medicine, and non-destructive evaluation

Fig. 1.3 A brief schematic of forward and inverse models in electrical

distribution of the object. Mathematically, EIT inverse problem is a very

1.4 Overview of the thesis

The author’s original contribution is presented in the remainder of the thesis,

2.2 Microwave impedance microscopy

In this thesis, the experimental parts are conducted on microwave impedance

Fig. 2.2 Measurement environment for microwave impedance microscopy

S11 = f (1/R + jωC) = f (Y ) (2.1)

where Y is the tip-sample admittance, then:

in which Pc = Pnm (cos ηc ), C = m (n+m)!/(4aπ(n−m)!), L0 = cosh µ−cos η,