Method of and system for detecting structures on or below the surface of a sample using a probe including a cantilever and a probe tip

A scanning probe microscopy system for detecting structures of nanometer size semiconductor elements on or below the surface of a sample, comprising:

• a probe for scanning the sample surface, wherein the probe comprises a probe tip mounted on a cantilever, wherein the cantilever is characterized by one or more normal modes of resonance including a fundamental resonance frequency, and wherein the probe is mounted on a sensing head arranged for bringing the probe tip in contact with the sampling surface;
• a transducer for applying a vibrational input signal exclusively from a location of the transducer;
• and
• a probe deflection sensor for producing an output signal indicative of motion of the probe tip due to vibrations at the surface induced by the vibrational input signal,
• wherein the transducer is configured for producing the vibrational input signal so as to comprise a first signal component having a frequency within a range of 10 megahertz to 10 gigahertz, and
• wherein the transducer is configured for amplitude modulating the vibrational input signal using a second signal component having a modulation frequency below 5 megahertz.