KeithleyS530ParametricTester.PDFVIP

Number 3180 Application Note Performing van der Pauw Sheet Series Resistance Measurements Using the Keithley S530 Parametric Tester Accurate low voltage measurements are essential to many compared to the area of the structure), be homogenous in semiconductor tests. Often, test structures such as contact chains, composition, and be symmetrical. More importantly, the contacts vias, and metal structures have resistances on the order of tens must be on the perimeter of the structure and be much smaller to hundreds of milliohms. Measuring such small resistances than the area of the structure. accurately usually requires forcing current and measuring Figure 2 shows one of the most widely used forms of a van voltage because most source-measurement instruments have der Pauw resistivity structure: the Greek cross. The Greek cross limited low-voltage source accuracy. However, even when current structure yields accurate resistivity data and is easy to design is forced through these structures, the resulting voltages are and lay out. small, necessitating the use of an accurate voltage measuring Van der Pauw showed that when the aforementioned instrument, such as a digital multimeter (DMM) with at least 6½ conditions are met, the following relation holds: digits of resolution. d+RAB,CD d+RBC,AD Van der Pauw Structures e– (π ρ ) + e– (π ρ ) = 1 One t