Scanning thermal microscopy probe capable of simultaneous electrical imaging and the addition of diamond tip

Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) is a scanning probe technique that allows the mapping of the thermal properties and/or temperature of a substrate. Developments in this scanning probe technique are of great importance to further the study of thermal transport at the micron and at the nano scale, for instance to better the understanding of heat transport in nano-electronic devices or energy transfer in biological systems. Here we describe: 1) the scanning technique developed to acquire simultaneous images of the topography, the thermal and electrical properties of the substrate using a commercially available Veeco SThM probe; 2) how the SThM probe was modified by mounting a micron-sized diamond pyramid on its tip in order to improve the probe's lateral resolution and the topography resolution tests on the performance of the modified probe.