Besides traceable scattering parameter measurements in planar circuits the following topics are currently under investigation:
- fundamentals of scattering parameter measurements
- traceable broadband dielectric measurements of substrate and laminar materials (EMRP Project EMINDA - finished in 2014)
- wideband characterization of interconnects fabricated on different substrate materials, including silicon
- test concepts with minimum invasiveness (e.g. high-impedance probes)
- numerical methods for network analyzer calibration
In the medium-term research efforts will be undertaken to extend the frequency range up to sub-THz frequencies and to investigate multiport scattering parameter measurements.
The figure on the left shows the current measurement equipment: a semi-automatic wafer prober station and a network analyzer covering frequencies up to 50 GHz. On the right the top view of a test structure for interconnects on lossy silicon together with the touched-down microwave probes is shown. The broadband characterization of electrical interconnect properties is of increasing interest to both microelectronic and RF/microwave industry. Solving this measurement problem involves the development of accurate on-wafer calibrations, broadband planar waveguide characterization methods and multiport scattering parameter measurement techniques.
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| Semi-automatic wafer prober and network analyzer | Interconnect test structure |
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