On the Deembedding Issue of CMOS Multigigahertz Measurements

The purpose of this paper is to address the issues of deembedding multigigahertz CMOS measurements by extensively comparing six popular methods and by proposing a new method based on two-port measurements. The comparison aims to evaluate the maximum applicable frequency of equivalent-circuit methods (open-short, three step, ...) and the effect of the source dangling leg of MOSFETs on the cascade methods (two line and thru). Fifty dummy structures and 12 MOSFETs were fabricated using standard 0.18-mum CMOS technology. It was found that, at low frequencies (<6 GHz), all method results were comparable. The open-short method performed well over the entire frequency range (0.1-40 GHz) studied. The newly developed method, called the thru-short method, uses only two dummy structures, a thru and a short, to completely deembed the parasitics from probe pads, interconnects, and the semiconducting substrate. The measurements validated the thru-short algorithm and showed its usefulness for multigigahertz on-wafer CMOS measurements.