Statistical capacitance measurement and analysis of Si trench capacitors using array test circuit

Abstract A statistical and accurate capacitance measurement is crucial for investigating electrical characteristics and inter-element variation thereof in semiconductor devices on chips. In this publication, measurements and analysis using the developed array test circuit are presented, which consists of numerous devices under test (DUT), each with a practical dimension. The measured Si trench capacitors (TCs) have two types of electrode connection polarities to verify the effect of parasitic capacitances intrinsic to the DUT. By applying the adequate connection, C-V curves from the proposed chip and a conventional analyzer were in good agreement. Additionally, the relative standard deviation for 732 TCs was less than 0.240%, which demonstrated the developed high-precision capacitance measurement. Within the practical bias range, TCs’ capacitance variation with voltage was sufficiently small, especially in the electrode connection to employ the inversion regime. The developed technology is effective for statistical capacitance measurement of fF to pF range capacitors, supporting various TC applications.