Experimental electrical characterization of on-chip interconnects

Abstract

This paper describes the transmission line and capacitance measurements made on a 0.25 micron test chip. Transmission lines were characterized to frequencies up to 20 GHz using a Hewlett Packard network analyzer and capacitances were determined using conventional capacitance meter. These measurements will help to develop benchmark capacitance and resistance values of on-chip interconnect structures. Measurements of the physical dimension of the interconnect structures will facilitate the determination of the effects of geometric assumptions made by capacitance extraction tools.