Experimental Characterization of the Effect of Metal Dummy Fills on Spiral Inductors

In modern CMOS technologies, metal dummy fills are required to maintain metal density uniformity and to planarize the layers. As frequency increases, the effect of the metal dummy fills on the CMOS integrated circuits or components should be taken into account. This work presents experimental results of the effect of metal dummy fills on the microwave behavior of spiral inductors fabricated in a standard 0.18-mum CMOS technology. The influences on the equivalent model parameters and the Q-factor are characterized based on measured S-parameters of inductors with and without metal dummy fills.