High spatially resolved MMIC-internal millimetre-wave measurements of sinusoidal signals by high frequency electric force microscope-testing

A recently developed high frequency electric force microscope (HF-EFM) test system combines both high spatial and temporal resolution, and enables functional probing and failure analysis of monolithic microwave- and millimetre-wave integrated circuits (MMICs) on wafer. It has previously been shown that this test system is capable of detecting pulse shaped signals up to 100 GHz on a 1 μm transistor gate, by using nonlinear transmission lines as signal generators. For realising the possibility of testing MMIC-internal devices in normal working conditions, this test system is improved by using millimetre-wave generators as signal sources in order to allow the system to measure sinusoidal signals. For the first time, the test system was used for measurements of sinusoidal milliwave-wave signals on different MMICS at frequencies up to 110 GHz, simultaneously achieving a spatial resolution better than 2 μm