Identification of Parasitic Capacitances in Integrated Circuits by Contactless RF Voltage Sensing

Abstract

The detailed understanding of parasitic circuit elements is crucial for the development of integrated radio frequency (RF) devices. In this paper, a contactless voltage sensing method is used to identify parasitic capacitances within an integrated RF circuit. The voltage distribution within a resistive voltage divider is measured with μm spatial resolution at frequencies of 1 GHz to 26.5 GHz. Parasitic capacitances between circuit test points within the voltage divider are identified by comparing the measured frequency-dependent voltage distribution to an equivalent circuit model. The results are verified by performing measurements on a second voltage divider with the same dimensions, but different resistor values.